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JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT 


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AMERICAN 
H  ISTOR  Y 


THE 

LEWIS  &  CLARK 

EXPLORING   EXPEDITION,    1804 -'06 

BY 

G.   MERCER    ADAM 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT 

BY 

CHARLES   WENTWORTH   UPHAM 


THE     UNIVERSITY     SOCIETY 

INCORPORATED 

NEW  YORK  1904 


/ 


COPYRIGHT,    1904 

BY 
THE   UNIVERSITY   SOCIETY,    INC. 


THE 

LEWIS    AND     CLARK 

EXPLORING^     EXPEDITION 

(1804-06) 

BY 

G.  MERCER  ADAM 


THE 

LEWIS    AND    CLARK    EXPLORING 
EXPEDITION 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  PURPOSES  AND  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  MISSION 

FEW  chapters  in  the  annals  of  American  dis- 
covery in  the  once  dark  places  of  the  New  World 
Continent  are  more  interesting  to  the  modern-day 
reader,  or  more  full  of  venturesome  daring  and 
hardy  adventure,  than  the  story  told  in  the  narrative 
of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exploring  Expedition  in 
the  years  1804-06.  That  notable  expedition,  fruit- 
ful in  high  and  useful  achievement,  for  the  first  time 
threw  light  upon  the  wilderness  region  that  at  that 
early  era  stretched  from  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri 
River  to  where  the  waters  of  the  Columbia  River 
enter  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  vast  region  now  to 
be  opened  to  civilization,  and  then  known  as  the 
Louisiana  Territory,  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  farsighted  instigation  of  Pres- 
ident Jefferson,  by  a  rare  stroke  of  American  diplo- 
macy. It  consisted  of  nearly  a  million  square  miles, 
and  embraced  what  is  now  the  States  of  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  North 

7 


8  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

and  South  Dakota,  Wyoming,  Montana,  with  parts 
of  Colorado,  Minnesota,  and  Idaho,  and  all  of  what 
is  now  the  Territory  of  Oklahoma.  At  the  period, 
it  was  the  abode,  almost  exclusively,  of  warring 
Indian  tribes,  most  of  whom  lived  in  a  state  of 
nature,  and  were,  moreover,  hostile  to  all  intruders 
on  their  wild  domain.  The  civilized  peoples  sparsely 
inhabiting  its  trackless  spaces  did  not  exceed  50,000, 
chiefly  French  coureurs  de  bois,  or  of  French  de- 
scent, with  a  sprinkling  of  Spanish,  Germans,  Eng- 
lish, and  Americans,  and  about  40,000  negro  slaves. 
Almost  solely  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  at  the  era  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  and  up  to  the  close  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  the  people  of  the  New  World  Re- 
public were  confined,  the  region  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  being  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness, 
known  only  to  the  hardy  Western  frontiersman  and 
to  the  roving  employees  of  the  two  great  Fur  Com- 
panies. Up  to  the  opening  year  of  the  new  (nine- 
teenth) century,  the  Louisiana  Territory  had  been 
the  possession  of  Spain,  the  United  States  enjoying 
only  as  a  privilege,  by  a  lapsed  treaty  with  that 
declining  peninsular  Power,  the  free  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi,  with  a  provisional  right  of  deposit 
for  their  commerce  at  its  seaport  on  the  island  of 
New  Orleans.  But  a  change  of  ownership  came  in 
1800,  when  Spain  ceded  to  France  all  of  Louisiana 
by  the  secret  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso.  This  acqui- 
sition by  France  was  naturally  a  matter  of  alarm 
to  the  then  Administration  of  the  American  Repub- 
lic, the  one  man  who  was  most  alive  to  the  gravity 
of  the  change  of  ownership  being  President  Jeffer- 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION  9 

son,  who,  when  the  transfer  to  France  became 
known,  instructed  the  nation's  ambassador  at  Paris 
to  treat  with  France  for  the  purchase  of  New  Or- 
leans and  the  Floridas  and  the  control  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Luckily,  Bonaparte  at  the  time  was  not 
only  fearful  lest  he  should  not  be  able  to  utilize  the 
Louisiana  Territory  for  colonization  purposes  or  be 
secure  in  holding  it  in  the  prospect  of  renewed  war 
with  Great  Britain,  but  was  also  in  urgent  need  of 
money.  The  consequence  was  the  sale  by  France 
to  the  United  States,  in  1803,  of  the  entire  Louis- 
iana Territory  for  the  consideration  of  80,000,000 
francs,  or  $15,000,000.  The  negotiation  came 
as  a  surprise  to  our  American  people,  and  even 
to  the  Jefferson  Administration,  which  had  only 
thought  to  obtain,  and  had  only  directed  the  pur- 
chase of,  West  Florida  and  the  port  of  Mobile,  with 
enough  of  lower  Louisiana  to  give  American  com- 
merce on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi  the 
right  of  way  to  the  sea.  The  transaction,  which 
added  the  area  of  an  empire  to  the  possessions  of 
the  United  States,  was  subsequently  confirmed  by 
the  Washington  Government  and  ratified  by  the 
United  States  Senate  (July  31,  1803),  and  the  oc- 
cupation of  the  region  was  presently  entered  upon. 

The  purchase  by  this  country  of  the  enormous 
added  area  to  the  possessions  of  the  nation,  at  what 
was  then  a  heavy  expenditure  of  money,  did  not  at 
first  please  all  parties,  either  in  or  out  of  the  Union. 
The  Federalists  at  home  opposed  it,  as  a  negotiation 
unwarranted  by  the  Constitution,  and  tending 
greatly  to  qualify  New  England  influence  in  the 


10  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

political  affairs  of  the  Republic.  Spain  also  re- 
sented its  transfer  to  the  United  States  since  her 
agreement  on  the  cession  of  the  territory  to  France 
was  that  the  latter  should  not  subsequently  alienate 
it — a  matter  that  gave  Napoleon  no  trouble — ;  but 
also  because  she  hotly  protested  against  the  loss  of 
West  Florida,  and  in  consequence  refused  to  pay  the 
United  States  her  claim  upon  Spain  of  sums  due  her 
for  the  spoliation  of  American  commerce.  The  mat- 
ter, for  the  time,  went  into  the  limbo  of  diplomatic 
negotiation,  as  far  as  Spain  was  concerned,  though 
afterwards  in  our  relations  with  the  Power  that  had 
discovered  America  the  trouble  was  amicably  settled 
in  our  favor.  Peaceful  adjudication  of  our  differ- 
ences with  Spain  was  materially  helped  in  1819, 
when,  under  Madison's  regime,  East  Florida  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States  for  a  payment  of 
$6,500,000  with  the  renunciation  of  all  claims  by 
Spain  north  of  the  forty-second  parallel  as  far  west 
as  the  Pacific. 

Before  these  difficulties  had  been  removed  and 
settled,  this  country,  by  treaty  with  France,  entered 
formally  into  possession  of  the  Louisiana  purchase 
on  Dec.  20,  1803;  and  President  Jefferson  at  once 
set  himself  the  task  of  raising  a  moiety  of  money 
($2,500)  to  defray  the  cost  of  an  expedition  into 
the  Territory,  and  of  calling  into  existence  the 
organized  band  of  scientists  and  others  who  were 
to  conduct  and  give  effect  to  the  exploratory  move- 
ment. In  this  epic  of  exploration,  which  it  now 
becomes  our  purpose  to  narrate,  it  is  gratifying  to 
find  it  throughout  highly  creditable  to  all  parties 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          II 

concerned  in  it.  From  the  first,  it  was  ideally  har- 
monious as  well  as  perfect  in  its  organization, 
thanks  not  only  to  the  loyalty  and  good  sense  of  the 
men  who  were  chosen  to  conduct  it,  but  especially 
to  President  Jefferson,  whose  statesmanlike  project 
it  was,  and  who  took  so  hearty  and  intelligent  an 
interest  in  its  achievement  and  success,  besides  elab- 
orately planning  the  scope  and  purposes  of  the  ex- 
ploratory mission.  The  obstacles  to  be  surmounted 
in  carrying  out  the  purposes  of  the  Expedition  were 
known  to  be  great ;  but  great  also  were  the  objects 
sought  to  be  gained  by  the  undertaking,  and,  to  the 
nation,  important  were  the  interests  at  stake.  South 
of  the  international  boundary  line,  more  than  a 
third  of  the  Continent,  as  yet  shrouded  in  darkness, 
was  to  be  looked  upon  and  explored.  Beyond  the 
little  that  was  known  of  the  region  to  the  happy- 
go-lucky  fur  trader  and  wandering  nomad  of  the 
woods,  practically  the  entire  stretch  of  country  from 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  was 
geographically  a  blank.  Even  the  salient  physical 
features — the  barrier  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to 
wit — were  unknown ;  the  whole  interior,  then  a  des- 
olate waste,  was  supposed  to  be  a  vast  undulating 
plain,  seamed  with  rivers,  and  occasionally  broken 
by  hill  lines  of  uncertain  altitude  and  extent  of 
stretch,  with  no  accurate  knowledge  of  where  they 
lay,  or  of  the  formidable  character  of  the  barrier 
they  interposed  between  the  interior  plains  and  the 
Far  Western  sea.  In  this  new  domain  of  the  nation, 
many  Indian  tribes  were  inferred  to  exist  that  had 
never  come  into  contact  with  the  white  man;  while 


12  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

« 

little  was  as  yet  known  of  the  vast  river,  the  Colum- 
bia, that  drained  the  area  on  the  western  slopes  of 
the  (Stony)  Rocky  Mountains  and  carried  its  watery 
burden  to  the  Pacific.  Only  since  the  Spring  of 
1792  was  the  existence  of  the  great  western  river 
definitely  known,  when  Captain  Gray  of  the  Boston 
vessel,  the  Columbia,  then  discovered  its  harbor- 
mouth  between  the  high  capes  that  shielded  and  all 
but  enclosed  it  from  the  ocean. 

To  probe  throughout  the  great  interior  track  of 
over  4,000  miles  and  report  upon  its  resources  and 
characteristic  features,  as  well  as  to  ascertain  what 
native  tribes  -inhabited  it,  and  what  relations  of 
amity  and  commerce  the  nation  that  had  become  its 
owner  might  expect  to  have  with  them,  were  mat- 
ters well  worth  investigating  and  reporting  upon. 
To  the  organization  of  an  expedition  to  ascertain 
these  and  other  purposes,  President  Jefferson,  as  we 
have  related,  now  actively  addressed  himself;  and 
soon  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  its  forces  as- 
sembled ready  to  set  out  on  its  important  mission. 
For  the  chief  command  of  the  Expedition,  the  Presi- 
dent, fortunately,  had  already  in  his  eye  a  suitable 
man,  of  excellent  parts,  in  the  person  of  a  Virginian 
of  good  family,  under  thirty  years  of  age,  who  at 
one  time  had  been  his  own  private  secretary.  This 
was  Captain  Meriwether  Lewis,  who  had  seen  ser- 
vice in  the  United  States  army,  and  who,  in  his  offi- 
cial relations  with  the  President,  had  had  his  own 
interest  quickened  in  the  Louisiana  Territory  he  was 
now,  with  his  colleague  and  command,  about  to 
explore.  The  colleague  we  have  mentioned,  who 


THE    LEWIS   AND    CLARK    EXPEDITION  13 

shared  with  Lewis  the  task  about. to  be  undertaken, 
was  Captain  William  Clark,  a  Kentuckian  of  Vir- 
ginian origin,  who  had  also  been  in  the  army,  but 
was  at  the  time  farming  in  his  adopted  Kentucky 
State.  His  brother  was  the  well-known  General 
George  Rogers  Clark,  who  had  achieved  fame  in 
the  Revolutionary  era  in  wars  against  the  Indians. 
Like  Lewis,  who  was  an  old  comrade,  William  Clark 
was  admirably  fitted  for  responsible  command,  and 
was  at  the  same  time  familiar  with  frontier  life.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  man  of  excellent  character,  as  well 
as  of  great  hardihood  and  self-reliance,  though  man- 
ifestly lacking  in  the  essentials  of  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, as  we  amusingly  see  from  his  misspelled  epis- 
tles and  reports.  Such  were  the  two  men,  singularly 
loyal  to  each  other  and  to  the  task  about  to  be  as- 
signed them,  who  were  to  be  entrusted  with  the 
responsible  command  of  the  President's  commission 
of  investigation  in  the  vast  territory  the  nation  had 
just  acquired  from  France. 

Of  Captain  Lewis,  we  get  a  fuller  and  instructive 
account  from  President  Jefferson  himself,  written 
after  the  explorer's  lamented  death,  in  1809,  when 
the  Expedition  had  become  an  interesting  part  of  the 
national  annals.  The  eulogy  we  shall,  no  doubt, 
be  pardoned  for  here  introducing  to  the  reader. 
Concerning  Lewis  and  his  qualifications,  the  Presi- 
dent relates : 

"  I  had  now  had  opportunities  of  knowing  him 
(Lewis)  intimately.  Of  courage  undaunted;  pos- 
sessing a  firmness  and  perseverance  of  purpose 
which  nothing  but  impossibilities  could  divert  from 


14  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

its  direction ;  careful  as  a  father  of  those  committed 
to  his  charge,  yet  steady  in  the  maintenance  of 
order  and  discipline;  intimate  with  the  Indian  char- 
acter, customs,  and  principles;  habituated  to  the 
hunting  life;  guarded,  by  exact  observation  of  the 
vegetables  and  animals  of  his  own  country,  against 
losing  time  in  the  description  of  objects  already  pos- 
sessed ;  honest,  disinterested,  liberal,  of  sound  under- 
standing, and  a  fidelity  to  truth  so  scrupulous  that 
whatever  he  should  report  would  be  as  certain  as  if 
seen  by  ourselves — with  all  these  qualifications,  as 
if  selected  and  implanted  by  nature  in  one  body  for 
this  express  purpose,  I  could  have  no  hesitation 
in  confiding  the  enterprise  to  him.  To  fill  up 
the  measure  desired,  he  wanted  nothing  but  a 
greater  familiarity  with  the  technical  language 
of  the  natural  sciences,  and  readiness  in  the 
astronomical  observations  necessary  for  the  geog- 
raphy for  his  route.  To  acquire  these,  he  re- 
paired to  Philadelphia,  and  placed  himself  under 
the  tutorage  of  the  distinguished  professors  of  that 
place,  who,  with  a  zeal  and  emulation  enkindled  by 
an  ardent  devotion  to  science,  communicated  to  him 
freely  the  information  requisite  for  the  purposes  of 
the  journey.  While  attending  at  Lancaster  to  the 
fabrication  of  the  arms  with  which  he  chose  that  his 
men  should  be  provided,  he  had  the  benefit  of  daily 
communication  with  Mr.  Andrew  Ellicott,  whose 
experience  in  astronomical  observation,  and  prac- 
tice of  it  in  the  woods,  enabled  him  to  apprise  Cap- 
tain Lewis  of  the  wants  and  difficulties  he  would 
encounter,  and  of  the  substitutes  and  resources 
afforded  by  a  woodland  and  uninhabited  country." 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          1 5 

How  faithful  and  correct  is  this  characterization 
of  the  chief  leader  of  the  Expedition,  from  Jeffer- 
son's kindly  pen,  is  well  attested  by  the  facts  which 
came  out  during  the  progress  of  the  exploring  party 
and  by  the  success  which  attended  the  entire  mission. 
Valuable  also  were  the  counsels  and  hints  of  the 
President  to  Captain  Lewis  in  conducting  the  Ex- 
pedition, and  clear  the  objects  set  forth  by  him  to 
be  attained  by  the  explorers  in  the  vast  solitudes  they 
were  about  to  enter  upon.  Considerate  and  humane 
also  were  his  instructions  as  to  the  attitude  which 
should  govern  the  commanding  leader  in  his  inter- 
course with  the  Indians  to  be  met  with,  and  minute 
the  matters  he  desired  that  the  Expedition  should 
gather  that  would  afterwards  be  helpful  to  trade  and 
colonization  in  the  region.  In  regard  to  the  Indians, 
Mr.  Jefferson  counsels  Captain  Lewis  to  "  treat 
them  in  the  most  friendly  and  conciliating  manner 
which  their  own  conduct  will  admit;  allay  all  jeal- 
ousies as  to  the  object  of  your  journey;  satisfy  them 
of  its  innocence;  make  them  acquainted  with  the 
position,  extent,  character,  peaceable  and  commer- 
cial disposition,  of  the  United  States ;  of  our  wish  to 
be  neighborly,  friendly,  and  useful  to  them,  and  of 
our  dispositions  to  a  commercial  intercourse  with 
them ;  confer  with  them  on  the  points  most  conven- 
ient as  mutual  emporiums,  and  the  articles  of  most 
desirable  interchange  for  them  and  us.  If  a  few  of 
their  influential  chiefs,  within  practicable  distance, 
wish  to  visit  us,  arrange  such  a  visit  with  them,  and 
furnish  them  with  authority  to  call  on  our  officers, 
on  their  entering  the  United  States,  to  have  them 


l6  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

conveyed  to  this  place  at  the  public  expense.  If  any 
of  them  should  wish  to  have  some  of  their  people 
brought  up  with  us,  and  taught  such  arts  as  may  be 
useful  to  them,  we  will  receive,  instruct,  and  take 
care  of  them."  Hardly  less  practical  was  the  array 
of  motley  garments  and  dress  outfits,  coins,  trinkets, 
and  other  articles  with  which  the  Expedition  was 
furnished  as  the  material  of  exchange  or  barter  with 
the  natives,  or  as  presents  for  the  Indian  chiefs  and 
their  concubines.  Careful,  moreover,  were  the 
hints  given  the  Expedition  leaders  as  to  their  con- 
duct and  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  the  event  of  the 
mission  meeting  with  hostilities  from  the  natives 
en  route]  though,  necessarily,  much  latitude  was 
allowed  them  in  taking  their  own  course  in  dealing 
with  hostile  tribes  and  in  pressing  on  through,  or 
retiring  from,  situations  of  grave  menace  or  threat- 
ened hurt.  A  like  latitude  was  given  the  command 
as  to  the  routes  to  be  pursued  across  the  continent 
and  returning,  other  than  the  general  course  tenta- 
tively indicated;  while  instructions  were  consider- 
ately given  the  leader  to  draw  upon  the  national 
exchequer,  through  local  agents  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  moneys  needed  for  the  unprovided- 
for  expenses  and  other  incidental  charges  of  the 
journey.  The  latter  provision,  as  it  obviously 
turned  out,  was  a  work  of  pure  supererogation,  since 
local  banking  offices  or  officials  of  the  Government 
service  were  not  likely  to  be  found  in  the  domains 
of  desolation  and  solitude. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    EQUIPMENT   AND   START    OF   THE   EXPEDITION 

BY  this  time,  Captain  Lewis  had  selected  with 
great  care  and  judiciousness  the  members  of  the  Ex- 
pedition and  gathered  them  at  St.  Louis,  where,  or 
rather  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  close  by,  he 
spent  the  winter  of  1803  and  the  early  Spring  of 
1804  in  drilling  and  instructing  the  men  in  their  re- 
spective duties,  as  component  parts  of  an  Expedition 
which  was  to  be  conducted  as  a  military  as  well  as 
an  exploratory  organization.  Here  were  concen- 
trated or  constructed  the  impedimenta  of  the  Expe- 
dition, in  the  shape  of  sail-boats,  canoes,  and  other 
craft  for  use  on  the  rivers  and  streams  to  be  met  with 
on  the  long  and  necessarily  toilsome  journey,  with 
their  equipment  of  sails,  oars,  and  steering  gear;  as 
well  as  tents  for  shelter,  and  guns  and  ammunition 
for  self-protection  or  for  hunting  purposes ;  together 
with  all  other  necessary  outfit,  including  a  couple  of 
horses  for  towing,  hauling,  or  other  occasional  ser- 
vice. Here  also  were  gathered  the  provisions  and 
stores  of  all  kinds,  including  mathematical  instru- 
ments, writing  material,  medicine  chests,  Indian 
presents,  and  camp  equipage,  done  up  in  portable 
packs  for  easy  transportation  by  the  carriers  of  the 
Expedition  across  the  continent. 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v. — 2  17 


1 8  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

Interest  will  doubtless  be  taken  by  the  reader  in 
what  we  have  now  to  relate  of  the  numbers  compos- 
ing the  Expedition,  and  the  functions  which  each 
section  of  the  party  were  engaged  to  perform.  All 
told,  the  Expedition  consisted  of  forty-five  members, 
though  but  two-thirds  of  this  number  were  expected 
to  accompany  the  dual-leaders  throughout — the 
other  third,  chiefly  boatmen  got  together  at  St.  Louis, 
being  engaged  to  go  with  the  mission  as  far  only  as 
the  villages  of  the  Mandan  Nation.  Besides  the  two 
commanding  officers,  the  party  embraced  nine  hardy 
young  Kentuckians,  more  or  less  accustomed  to  fron- 
tier and  woodland  life ;  fourteen  soldiers  of  the  regu- 
lar army  who  had  volunteered  their  services ;  fifteen 
boatmen;  two  Indian  hunters  and  interpreters;  two 
French  voyageurs;  and  a  negro  valet  and  servitor 
pf  Captain  Clark.  Carefully  selected,  and  well- 
handled  and  led,  the  Expedition  had  in  it  the  promise 
of  effecting  the  great  and  beneficent  purpose  for 
which  it  had  been  got  together  and  enrolled.  It  set 
off,  at  first  rather  inauspiciously,  in  the  teeth  of  a 
head-wind,  on  Monday,  the  2ist  of  May,  1804,  and, 
four  days  later,  in  its  ascent  of  the  Lower  Missouri 
waters,  it  reached  La  Charette,  almost  the  last  white 
settlement  in  the  region,  and  the  humble  home  of 
Daniel  Boone,  the  renowned  backwoodsman  of 
Kentucky.  On  the  way  hither,  the  boats  of  the 
party,  comprising  a  long-keeled  bateau,  manned  by 
twenty-two  oars,  and  several  "  pirogues,"  or  open 
boats,  propelled  by  six  oars,  encountered  little  of  in- 
terest, save  the  vessels  of  some  fur  traders  loaded 
with  peltry,  whose  prows  were  set  down  stream  in 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          IQ 

the  direction  of  St.  Louis,  the  chief  entrepot  of  the 
region.  On  the  river's  banks,  they  passed  a  few  scat- 
tered clearings  of  French  woodsmen  and  hunters, 
who  eked  out  an  indifferent  living  by  the  poor 
products  of  their  little  farm  plots.  Now  and  then, 
they  also  met  a  few  Indians,  of  the  Kickapoo  and 
Kansas  tribes,  with  whom  they  did  a  little  bartering, 
procuring  several  deer  or  an  occasional  buffalo  for 
the  questionable  equivalent  of  a  quart  or  two  of 
whiskey. 

So  far  as  they  had  gone,  game,  it  will  be  seen,  was 
abundant,  bears  also  being  met  with  as  well  as  moose 
and  buffalo,  besides  wild  turkeys  and  geese;  while 
the  Expedition  found  plenty  in  the  way  of  fruit- 
relish  to  tickle  the  palate,  including  wild  currants, 
mulberries,  plums,  and  raspberries.  The  gathering 
of  these  delicacies  by  the  river's  banks,  and  an  occa- 
sional halt  to  prepare  supplies  of  jerked  beef  for 
future  contingencies,  when  provisions  by  the  way 
would  be  scarce,  served  to  enliven  the  journey  and 
occupy  the  men's  minds  so  that  they  should  not,  by 
anticipation,  worry  themselves  over  the  coming  perils 
of  the  way.  Towards  the  close  of  June,  a  month  and 
a  half  after  they  had  set  out,  the  party  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  Kansas  River,  where  Kansas  City  now 
stands,  and  here  the  leaders  held  a  friendly  pow-wow 
with  the  Indians  of  the  vicinity.  A  month  later,  the 
mouth  of  the  Platte  River  was  come  to,  six  hundred 
miles  above  St.  Louis,  and  at  this  point  was  reached 
what  the  party  were  aware  was  the  dividing  line 
which  marked  the  known  from  the  unknown. 
Henceforth,  solitude  lay  before  them,  save  for  its 


2O  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

Indian  contingent  of  Missouris,  Ottoes,  and  Paw- 
nees, who  sparsely  people  the  region.  At  this  place, 
the  commanders  of  the  Expedition  deemed  it  proper, 
before  committing  their  party  to  the  unknown  perils 
of  the  district  embraced  in  the  Upper  Missouri 
waters,  to  call  a  council  of  the  native  tribes  and  their 
chiefs,  that  they  might  inform  them  of  the  pacific 
purposes  of  the  Expedition,  and,  if  possible,  allay 
hostility  at  the  threshold  of  their  wild  domain.  At 
the  bidding  of  messengers  sent  out  to  summon  the 
tribes,  fourteen  representative  Indians  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance at  the  white  men's  camp,  bringing  with 
them  presents  of  delicious  watermelons,  in  return 
for  which  they  were  regaled  with  overflowing  plat- 
ters of  roast-beef  and  pork,  temptingly  set  before 
them,  in  addition  to  a  goodly  supply  of  flour  and 
corn-meal.  Here,  in  the  "  Journals  of  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  Expedition,"  is  the  account  placed  on  record 
(August  3rd)  of  the  conference,  on  the  site  of  what 
has  since  been  known  as  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa : 

"  This  morning  the  Indians,  with  their  six  chiefs, 
were  all  assembled  under  an  awning  formed  with  the 
mainsail,  in  presence  of  all  our  party,  paraded  for  the 
occasion.  A  speech  was  then  made  announcing  to 
them  the  change  in  the  government  (from  France  to 
the  United  States),  our  promise  of  protection,  and 
advice  as  to  their  future  conduct.  All  the  six  chiefs 
replied  to  our  speech,  each  in  his  turn,  according  to 
rank.  They  expressed  their  joy  at  the  change  in  the 
government ;  their  hopes  that  we  would  recommend 
them  to  their  Great  Father  (the  President),  that  they 
might  obtain  trade  and  necessaries;  they  wanted 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          21 

arms  as  well  for  hunting  as  for  defence,  and  asked 
our  mediations  between  them  arid  the  Mahars 
(  ?  Omahas),  with  whom  they  are  now  at  war.  We 
promised  to  do  so,  and  wished  some  of  them  to  ac- 
company us  to  that  nation,  which  they  declined,  for 
fear  of  being  killed  by  them.  We  then  proceeded  to 
distribute  our  presents.  The  grand  chief  of  the 
nation  not  being  of  the  party,  we  sent  him  a  flag,  a 
medal,  and  some  ornaments  for  clothing.  To  the 
six  chiefs  who  were  present,  we  gave  a  medal  of  the 
second  grade  to  one  Ottoe  chief  and  one  Missouri 
chief;  a  medal  of  the  third  grade  to  two  inferior 
chiefs  of  each  nation — the  customary  mode  of  recog- 
nizing a  chief  being  to  place  a  medal  round  his  neck, 
which  is  considered  among  his  tribe  as  a  proof  of 
his  consideration  abroad.  Each  of  these  medals  was 
accompanied  by  a  present  of  paint,  garters,  and 
cloth  ornaments  of  dress;  and  to  these  we  added  a 
canister  of  powder,  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  and  a  few 
presents  to  the  whole,  which  appeared  to  make  them 
perfectly  satisfied.  The  air-gun,  too,  was  fired  and 

astonished  them  greatly " 

Leaving  the  vicinity  of  Council  Bluffs,  near  where 
the  friendly  pow-wow  took  place,  the  Expedition 
leaders,  later  on  in  the  month  (August,  1804),  had 
a  conference  with  other  Indian  chiefs  (Ottoes)  of 
the  region.  Much  the  same  ceremony  was  gone 
through  with,  and  the  tribe  was  made  acquainted,  as 
the  Missouris  and  Pawnees  had  been,  with  the  new 
possessors  of  the  territory,  in  the  persons  of  its  ex- 
plorer-representatives. The  accustomed  gifts  were 
distributed  to  the  chiefs,  and  a  favorable  impression 


22  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

was  left  upon  them  of  the  considerateness  and  friend- 
ly attitude  of  their  new  masters.  At  this  period 
(August  19),  the  Expedition  lost  by  death,  after  a 
few  days'  illness,  one  of  its  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers, Sergeant  Charles  Floyd,  in  memory  of  whom  a 
stream  that  flowed  into  the  Upper  Missouri  close  by 
which  the  sergeant  died  was  named.  His 
vacant  post  was  filled  by  a  popular  member 
from  the  rank  and  file  of  the  expeditionary  corps, 
Patrick  Gass,  who  got  his  triple  stripes  by  the  votes 
of  his  comrades.  This  democratic  mode  of  filling  a 
vacancy  was  creditable  to  the  tact  of  the  command- 
ers of  the  Expedition,  and  conducive  to  the  engender- 
ing of  a  healthy  esprit  de  corps  among  its  members. 
The  circumstance  indicates  the  hearty  good  feeling 
that  pervaded  all  ranks,  so  far  on  in  the  journey,  as 
it  also  manifests  their  loyal  interest  in  the  objects  of 
the  Expedition  and  their  common  desire  that  it 
should  be  abundantly  successful. 


CHAPTER  III 

AMONG  THE  SIOUX 

BY  the  close  of  August,  the  country  of  the  great 
Sioux  nation  was  entered  upon,  now  South  Dakota, 
and  intercourse  was  had  with  several  of  its  warlike 
tribes,  including  first  the  Yanktons,  and  afterwards 
the  Mandans,  Tetons,  Minnetarees,  and  Ricara. 
The  Yankton- Sioux,  about  one  thousand  strong, 
were  found  inhabiting  Bon  Homme  Island  and  the 
country  around  the  Yankton,  or  Dakota,  River,  other 
lodges  of  the  tribe  being  found  on  the  banks  of  the 
Des  Moines  and  the  Sioux  Rivers.  Only  with  the 
ugly-tempered  and  rascally  Tetons  did  the  Expedi- 
tion have  any  trouble ;  with  the  others,  relations  were 
made  pleasant  by  the  exercise  of  tact,  and  by  the 
presents  distributed  to  their  chief  men  at  the  palavers 
that  ensued.  In  the  intercourse  of  the  white  ex- 
plorers with  the  Yanktons,  Lewis  and  Clark  were 
aided  by  the  friendly  offices  of  Pierre  Dorion,  an 
intelligent  halfbreed,  whom  they  met  on  the  Missouri 
on  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  and  whom  they  were  suc- 
cessful in  inducing  to  return  to  the  lodges  of  the 
Yankton-Sioux,  to  act  as  interpreter  and  interme- 
diary with  the  tribe.  He  it  was  who  guided  the  mes- 
sengers of  the  Expedition  to  the  chief  village  of  the 
Yanktons,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  them  into  coun- 


24  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

cil.  Here  they  were  amicably  received,  and  had  set 
before  them,  for  their  refreshment  and  as  an  evidence 
of  their  friendly  disposition,  a  tempting  dish  of  roast 
dog!  In  return,  the  Yanktons  were  rewarded  with 
presents  of  tobacco,  together  with  some  highly  ap- 
preciated cooking  utensils. 

The  conference  with  the  Yanktons  occurred  on  the 
last  day  of  August,  under  an  oak  tree  near  by  the 
lodges  of  the  tribe,  and  from  the  top  of  which  the 
"  Stars  and  Stripes  "  had  been  given  to  the  breeze. 
Here  the  pipe  of  peace  was  smoked,  and  before  the 
harangue  began  the  Indians'  head  chief  was  pre- 
sented with  sundry  gifts,  including  a  richly  laced 
uniform  of  the  United  States  artillery,  with  cocked 
hat  and  red  feather.  This  brought  to  his  feet  the 
native  chieftain,  Weucha,  or  "  Shake  Hand,"  who, 
after  some  reference  to  Captain  Lewis's  opening 
speech  of  counsel  and  instruction,  thus  addressed  the 
white  leaders  of  the  party : 

"•I  see  before  me  my  Great  Father's  two  sons. 
You  see  me  and  the  rest  of  our  chiefs  and  warriors. 
We  are  very  poor ;  we  have  neither  powder,  nor  ball, 
nor  knives ;  and  our  women  and  children  at  the  vil- 
lage have  no  clothes.  I  wish  that  as  my  brothers 
have  given  me  a  flag  and  a  medal,  they  would  give 
something  to  those  poor  people,  or  let  them  stop  and 
trade  with  the  first  boat  which  comes  up  the  river. 
I  will  bring  the  chiefs  of  the  Pawnees  and  Mahas 
(Omahas)  together  and  make  peace  between  them; 
but  it  is  better  that  I  should  do  it  than  my  Great 
Father's  sons,  for  they  will  listen  to  me  more  readily. 
I  will  also  take  some  chiefs  to  your  country  in  the 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          2$ 

Spring ;  but  before  that  time  I  cannot  leave  home.  I 
went  formerly  to  the  English,  and  they  gave  me  a 
medal  and  some  clothes ;  when  I  went  to  the  Spanish 
they  gave  me  a  medal,  but  nothing  to  keep  it  from 
my  skin ;  but  now  you  give  me  a  medal  and  clothes. 
But  still  we  are  poor ;  and  I  wish,  brothers,  that  you 
would  give  us  something  for  our  squaws." 

Other  chiefs  of  the  tribe  spoke  briefly,  endorsing 
the  poverty  of  the  band  as  set  forth  by  the  head 
chief,  and  their  need  of  many  things  to  relieve  their 
distress,  including  powder  and  ball,  and  a  supply  of 
their  Great  Father's  milk — an  euphemism  for  ardent 
spirits !  From  the  Lewis  and  Clark  "  Journal  "  we 
further  learn  that  the  Yanktons  promised  to  make 
peace  with  the  Ottoes  and  Missouris,  the  only  nations 
with  whom  they  were  then  at  war.  From  the  same 
source,  we  also  learn  of  other  matters  which  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  scientific  members  of  the  Expedi- 
tion in  the  region,  chiefly  in  respect  to  the  animal  life 
of  the  district,  including  "  burrowing  squirrels,"  as 
the  prairie-dog,  or,  more  properly,  the  marmot,  was 
then  termed ;  together  with  "  barking  squirrels," 
mule-deer,  antelopes,  etc.  Besides  these  animals 
noted  and  reported  in  the  journal  of  the  explorers, 
mention  is  also  made  of  fossil  remains  being  met 
with  of  fish,  reptiles  and  other  life  belonging  to  early 
geological  periods,  in  addition  to  the  ever-present 
and  actively  troublesome  mosquito.  The  mule-deer 
spoken  of  as  being  found  in  the  vicinity  were  after- 
wards discovered  to  be  of  the  rather  rare  species  of 
black-tailed  deer,  with  noticeably  long  ears. 

In  the  Journal  of  Captain  Clark,  we  are  given  an 


26  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

account,  in  his  curiously  misspelled  English,  of  an 
encounter,  about  the  end  of  September,  with  the  vil- 
lanous  Tetons,  whose  lodges  the  Expedition  had 
now  come  to  in  their  passage  up  the  Missouri.  The 
leaders  of  the  tribe,  in  accordance  with  custom,  had 
been  invited  to  a  friendly  conference  with  the  whites, 
and  they  and  some  of  their  people  were  afterwards 
asked  to  inspect  at  close  quarters  the  Expedition's 
chief  vessel.  What  followed  is  thus  narrated  by 
Clark,  prefaced  by  some  little  detail  of  the  meeting 
with  the  Tetons : 

"  On  the  morning  of  September  25th,  relates  the 
Journal,  we  raised  a  flagstaff  and  an  awning,  under 
which  we  assembled,  with  all  the  party  parading  un- 
der arms.  The  chiefs  and  warriors  from  the  camps 
two  miles  up  the  river  met  us,  about  fifty  or  sixty  in 
number,  and  after  smoking  we  delivered  them  a 
speech ;  but  as  our  interpreter,  M.  Dorion,  had  been 
left  with  the  Yanktons,  we  were  obliged  to  make  use 
of  a  Frenchman  who  could  not  speak  fluently,  and 
therefore  we  curtailed  our  harangue.  After  this  we 
went  through  the  ceremony  of  acknowledging  the 
chiefs,  by  giving  to  the  grand  chief  a  medal,  a  flag  of 
the  United  States,  a  laced  uniform  coat,  a  cocked 
hat  arid  feather ;  to  the  two  other  chiefs,  a  medal  and 
some  small  presents;  and  to  two  warriors  of  con- 
sideration, certificates.  The  name  of  the  great  chief 
is  Untongasabau,  or  Black  Buffalo;  the  second, 
Tortohango,  or  the  Partisan;  the  third,  Tarton- 
gawaka,  or  Buffalo  Medicine ;  the  name  of  one  of  the 
warriors  was  Wawzinggo;  that  of  the  second,  Ma- 
tocoquepa,  or  Second  Bear.  We  then  invited  the 


THE    LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION  2^ 

chiefs  on  board,  and  showed  them,  the  boat,  the  air- 
gun,  and  such  curiosities  as  we  thought  might  amuse 
them.  In  this  we  succeeded  too  well ;  for,  after  giv- 
ing them  a  quarter  of  a  glass  of  whiskey,  which  they 
seemed  to  like  very  much,  and  sucked  the  bottle,  it 
was  with  much  difficulty  that  we  could  get  rid  of 
them.  They  at  last  accompanied  Captain  Clark  on 
shore,  in  a  pirogue  with  five  men ;  but  it  seems  they 
had  formed  a  design  to  stop  us;  for  no  sooner  had 
the  party  landed  than  three  of  the  Indians  seized  the 
cable  of  the  pirogue,  and  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
chief  put  his  arms  round  the  mast.  The  second  chief, 
who  affected  intoxication,  then  said  that  we  should 
not  go  on;  that  they  had  not  received  presents 
enough  from  us.  Captain  Clark  told  him  that  he 
would  not  be  prevented  from  going  on ;  that  we  were 
not  squaws,  but  warriors ;  that  we  were  sent  by  our 
Great  Father,  who  could  in  a  moment  exterminate 
them.  The  chief  replied  that  he  too  had  warriors, 
and  was  proceeding  to  offer  personal  violence  to  Cap- 
tain Clark,  who  immediately  drew  his  sword,  and 
made  a  signal  to  the  boat  to  prepare  for  action.  The 
Indians,  who  surrounded  him,  drew  their  arrows 
from  their  quivers,  and  were  bending  their  bows, 
when  the  swivel  in  the  boat  was  instantly  pointed 
toward  them,  and  twelve  of  our  most  determined 
men  jumped  into  the  pirogue  and  joined  Captain 
Clark.  This  movement  made  an  impression  on  them, 
for  the  grand  chief  ordered  the  young  men  away 
from  the  pirogue,  and  they  withdrew  and  held  a 
short  council  with  the  warriors.  Being  unwilling 
to  irritate  them,  Captain  Clark  then  went  forward 


28  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

and  offered  his  hand  to  the  first  and  second  chiefs, 
who  refused  to  take  it.  He  then  turned  from  them 
and  got  into  the  pirogue ;  but  he  had  not  gone  more 
than  ten  paces  when  both  of  the  chiefs  and  two  of 
the  warriors  waded  in  after  him,  and  he  brought 
them  on  board.  We  then  proceeded  on  for  a  mile, 
and  anchored  off  a  willow  island,  which,  from  the 
circumstances  which  had  just  occurred,  we  called 
"  Bad-humored  Island/' 

The  union  of  firmness  with  gentleness  which 
marked  the  command,  in  its  relations  with  the  Te- 
tons,  not  only  averted  what  might  have  been  serious 
trouble,  but  enabled  the  party  to  gain  the  respect,  if 
not  the  amity,  of  the  tribe ;  though  it  was  found  diffi- 
cult to  eradicate  from  the  minds  of  the  Tetons  hostile 
designs  upon  the  Expedition,  in  the  way  either  of 
destroying  it  or  of  effectually  barring  its  progress. 
The  next  day,  better  thoughts  having  prevailed,  and 
the  tribe  manifesting  a  more  amicable  disposition, 
friendly  relations  were  renewed.  Such  was  the  im- 
proved state  of  things  between  the  red  and  the  white 
men,  that  the  representative  men  of  the  tribe  came, 
in  a  contrite  mood,  to  the  leaders  of  the  Expedition 
and  begged  that  their  squaws  and  young  folk  might 
be  allowed  to  see  the  exploring  party  and  look  over 
the  boats.  This,  of  course,  was  agreed  to;  and 
when  the  visitors  had  had  their  fill  of  sights  and 
were  about  to  withdraw  they  expressed  their  delight 
at  what  they  had  seen,  and,  in  turn,  invited  the 
whites  ashore  to  a  pow-wow,  feast,  and  dance.  The 
incidents  of  the  meeting  are  thus  related  in  the  Jour- 
nal of  the  Expedition : 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK    EXPEDITION          29 

"  Captains  Lewis  and  Clark,  who  went  on  shore 
one  after  the  other,  were  met  on  landing  by  ten  well- 
dressed  young  men,  who  took  them  in  a  robe  highly 
decorated  and  carried  them  to  a  large  council-house, 
where  they  were  placed  on  a  dressed  buffalo-skin  by 
the  side  of  the  grand  chief.  The  hall  or  council- 
room  was  in  the  shape  of  three-quarters  of  a  circle, 
covered  at  the  top  and  sides  with  skins  well-dressed 
and  sewed  together.  Under  this  shelter  sat  about 
seventy  men,  forming  a  circle  round  the  chief,  before 
whom  were  placed  a  Spanish  flag  and  the  one  we 
had  given  them  yesterday.  This  left  a  vacant  circle 
of  about  six  feet  in  diameter,  in  which  the  pipe  of 
peace  was  raised  on  two  forked  sticks,  about  six  or 
eight  inches  from  the  ground,  and  under  it  the  down 
of  the  swan  was  scattered.  A  large  fire,  in  which 
they  were  cooking  provisions,  stood  near,  and  in  the 
centre  were  about  four  hundred  pounds  of  buffalo 
meat  designed  as  a  present  to  us.  As  soon  as  we 
were  seated,  an  old  man  got  up,  and  after  approving 
what  we  had  done,  begged  us  to  take  pity  on  their 
unfortunate  situation.  To  this  we  replied  with  as- 
surances of  protection.  After  he  had  ceased,  the 
great  chief  rose  and  delivered  a  harangue  to  the  same 
effect ;  then  with  great  solemnity  he  took  some  of  the 
most  delicate  parts  of  .the  dog  which  was  cooked  for 
the  festival,  and  held  it  to  the  flag  by  way  of  sacri- 
fice ;  this  done,  he  held  up  the  pipe  of  peace,  and  first 
pointed  it  to  the  heavens,  then  to  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe,  then  to  the  earth,  made  a  short  speech, 
lighted  the  pipe,  and  presented  it  to  us.  We  smoked, 
and  he  again  harangued  his  people,  after  which  the 


3O  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

repast  was  served  up  to  us.  It  consisted  of  the  dog 
which  they  had  just  been  cooking,  this  being  a  great 
dish  among  the  Sioux  and  used  on  all  festivals;  to 
this  were  added  pemitigon  (pemmican),  a  dish  made 
of  buffalo  meat,  dried  or  jerked,  and  then  pounded 
and  mixed  raw  with  grease  and  a  kind  of  ground 
potato,  dressed  like  the  preparation  of  Indian  corn 
called  hominy,  to  which  it  is  little  inferior.  Of  all 
these  luxuries,  which  were  placed  before  us  in  plat- 
ters with  horn  spoons,  we  took  the  pemitigon  and 
the  potatoes,  which  we  found  good,  though  we  could 
as  yet  partake  but  sparingly  of  the  dog." 

This  characteristic  Indian  feast  and  palaver  ended 
with  a  tribal  dance,  which  lasted  until  midnight, 
when  the  white  guests  took  leave  of  their  Teton  en- 
tertainers. Next  day,  after  being  mulcted  of  more 
tobacco,  which  the  young  braves  of  the  tribe  wanted, 
the  Expedition  was  permitted,  without  further  mo- 
lestation, to  proceed  on  the  journey  up  the  river.  At 
this  point  in  the  narrative,  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
"  Journal  "  supplies  an  interesting  account  of  the 
Teton  band  of  the  Sioux  nation,  their  customs,  man- 
ners, and  personal  appearance,  which  we  extract  for 
the  benefit  of  the  curious  modern-day  reader : 

"  In  their  persons,  the  Tetons,"  relates  the  ex- 
plorer-chroniclers, "  are  rather  ugly  and  ill-made, 
their  legs  and  arms  being  too  small,  their  cheekbones 
high,  and  their  eyes  projecting.  The  females,  with 
the  same  character  of  form,  are  more  handsome; 
and  both  sexes  appear  cheerful  and  sprightly ;  though 
in  our  intercourse  with  them  we  discovered  that  they 
were  cunning  and  vicious.  .  .  .  The  men  shave 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          31 

the  hair  off  their  heads,  except  a  small  tuft  on  the 
top,  which  they  suffer  to  grow,  and  wear  in  plaits 
over  the  shoulders ;  to  this  they  seem  much  attached, 
as  the  loss  of  it  is  the  usual  sacrifice  at  the  death  of 
near  relations.  In  full  dress,  the  men  of  considera- 
tion wear  a  hawk's  feather,  or  calumet  feather 
worked  with  porcupine  quills,  and  fastened  to  the  top 
of  the  head,  from  which  it  falls  back.  The  face  and 
body  are  generally  painted  with  a  mixture  of  grease 
and  coal.  Over  the  shoulders  is  a  loose  robe  or  man- 
tle of  buffalo  skin  dressed  white,  adorned  with  porcu- 
pine quills,  loosely  fixed,  so  as  to  make  a  jingling 
noise  when  in  motion,  and  painted  with  various  un- 
couth figures,  unintelligible  to  us,  but  to  them  em- 
blematic of  military  exploits  or  any  other  incident. 
The  hair  of  the  robe  is  worn  next  the  skin  in  fair 
weather,  but  when  it  rains  the  hair  is  put  outside,  and 
the  robe  is  either  thrown  over  the  arm  or  wrapped 
round  the  body,  all  of  which  it  may  cov^er.  Under 
this,  in  the  winter  season,  they  wear  a  kind  of  shirt 
resembling  ours,  made  either  of  skin  or  cloth,  and 
covering  the  arms  and  body.  Round  the  middle  is 
fixed  a  girdle  of  cloth,  or  procured  dressed  elk-skin, 
about  a  foot  wide,  which  passes  between  the  legs, 
to  this  is  attached  a  piece  of  cloth,  blanket,  or  skin, 
about  a  foot  wide,  which  passes  between  the  legs, 
and  is  tucked  under  the  girdle  both  before  and  be- 
hind. From  the  hip  to  the  ankle  is  covered  by  leg- 
gings of  dressed  antelope  skins,  with  seams  at  the 
sides  two  inches  in  width,  and  ornamented  by  little 
tufts  of  hair,  the  product  of  the  scalps  they  have 
taken  in  war,  which  are  scattered  down  the  leg. 


32  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

The  winter  moccasins  are  of  dressed  buffalo  skin, 
the  hair  being  worn  inward,  and  soled  with  thick 
elk-skin  parchment ;  those  for  summer  are  of  deer  or 
elk-skin,  dressed  without  the  hair,  and  with  soles  of 
elk-skin.  On  great  occasions,  or  whenever  they  are 
in  full  dress,  the  young  men  drag  after  them  the  en- 
tire skin  of  a  polecat  fastened  to  the  heel  of  the  moc- 
casin. Another  skin,  of  the  same  animal,  either 
tucked  into  the  girdle  or  carried  in  the  hand,  serves 
as  a  pouch  for  their  tobacco,  or  what  the  French 
traders  call  bo  is  roule  (rolled  wood).  This  is  the 
inner  bark  of  a  species  of  red  willow,  which,  being 
dried  in  the  sun  or  over  the  fire,  is  rubbed  between 
the  hands  and  broken  into  small  pieces,  and  used 
alone  or  mixed  with  tobacco.  The  pipe  is  generally 
of  red  earth,  the  stem  made  of  ash,  about  three  or 
four  feet  long,  and  highly  decorated  with  feathers, 
hair,  and  porcupine  quills." 

With  a  measure  of  relief  at  getting  out  of  the 
Teton  country,  the  Expedition,  which  even  now  was 
pursued  by  menacing  bands  of  its  late  entertainers, 
reached  the  village  of  the  Ricara  or  Rickaree,  sit- 
uate some  little  distance  beyond  what  is  now  known 
as  the  mining  region  of  the  Black  Hills,  several  days' 
journey  from  the  district  of  Dead  wood,  in  North 
Dakota.  On  the  way  was  passed  the  Chien,  or  Dog 
River,  near  the  habitat  of  the  Cheyenne  Indians, 
where  the  "  grizzly  "  of  the  Rockies  were  first  met 
with  and  described,  and  where  the  weather  began 
to  get  cool,  for  the  month  of  October  had  come,  and 
white  frosts  were  the  morning  greetings  at  the  high 
elevations  the  exploring  party  had  reached.  The 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION  33 

Rickaree  were  agreeably  found  to-  be  amicable  and 
trustful,  and  readily  met  the  Expedition  commanders 
in  friendly  conference.  Unlike  the  Yanktons  and 
other  Indian  tribes  hitherto  met  with,  the  Ricara 
eschewed  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  and  could  not 
be  tempted  to  touch  them.  The  pow-wow  with  them 
was,  nevertheless,  most  satisfactory;  while  they  ap- 
peared content,  and  indeed  delighted,  with  the  gifts 
distributed  to  their  representative  men  and  warrior 
chiefs.  It  is  related  that  the  tribe  was  particularly 
attracted  by  Captain  Clark's  negro  servant  and 
flocked  about  him  as  an  unusual  curiosity.  As  an 
uncommon  sight  also  to  the  tribe,  their  chiefs  looked 
on,  and  with  compassion,  at  the  punishment,  by 
lashes,  of  a  mutinous  white  soldier,  who  had  at  this 
time  to  bear  the  penalty  of  his  fractiousness,  after 
due  trial  by  court-martial.  Their  consideration  for 
the  soldier,  it  seems,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
seniors  of  the  tribe  never  make  use  of  corporal  pun- 
ishment, and  never  whip  offenders  among  their 
young,  though  when  apprised  of  the  soldier's  offence 
they  acknowledged  the  justice  of  his  punishment, 
and  added,  that  in  their  case  they  would,  instead  of 
whipping  the  culprit,  have  put  him  to  death. 

The  close  of  the  month  of  October  brought  the 
Expedition  to  the  Mandan  country,  lying  between 
the  Cannon  Ball  and  the  Heart  Rivers,  both  of  which 
find  their  outlets  in  the  Missouri,  the  latter  stream 
having  its  exit  where  now  stands  Mandan  City,  close 
to  Bismarck,  the  present  capital  of  the  State  of 
North  Dakota.  Here,  one  thousand  six  hundred 
miles  from  St.  Louis,  the  party  selected  with  care  a 
A.  B.,VOL.  v.— 3 


34  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

camping-place  for  the  winter,  now  approaching,  and 
proceeded  to  put  up  suitable  log  cabins  for  the  shelter 
of  the  force  and  to  erect  Fort  Mandan  for  the  com- 
mon defence.  In  this  they  were  encouraged  by  the 
hospitality  of  the  Mandan  Indians  and  their  allies  of 
the  Minnetaree  tribe  who  occupied  the  region,,  as 
well  as  by  the  abundance  of  game  in  the  vicinity,  in- 
cluding deer,  antelope,  pelicans,  and  buffaloes.  Aside 
from  the  scientific  objects  of  the  Expedition,  which 
were  to  engage  the  savants  of  the  party  during  the 
winter  months,  there  was  much  to  occupy  all  ranks 
in  preparing  for  the  undertakings  of  the  Spring,  and 
especially  in  building  canoes  and  light  craft  for 
passage  over  shallower  waters,  it  being  designed  to 
despatch  the  large  batteau  back  to  St.  Louis,  since 
it  was  too  unwieldly  for  portaging,  and  of  too  deep 
a  draught  for  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri. 
Though  encamped  in  a  fortified  post,  the  exploring 
party  had  little  to  fear  from  Indian  enemies  during 
their  prolonged  halt,  for  they  got  on  well  with  the 
Mandans,  who  were  not  now  the  strong  tribe  they 
once  were,  having  lost  numbers  by  repeated  visita- 
tions of  smallpox,  as  well  as  by  long  existing  strife 
with  their  Sioux  brethren  lower  down  the  river. 
Nor  had  the  Minnetarees  their  old-time  strength  of 
forces,  and  so  were  not  likely  to  give  trouble  to  the 
whites;  though  they  had  an  unscrupulous,  rascally 
chief  in  the  one-eyed  despot,  Le  Borgne,  whose 
ferocity  and  bloodthirstiness  had  given  him  an  evil 
name  in  the  region.  As  a  past-master  in  the  arts  of 
extortion  and  low  cunning,  the  whites  were  under 
the  necessity  of  keeping  a  close  watch  upon  him; 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          35 

though  their  disposition,  very  properly,  was  to  have 
as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  him. 

Not  a  little  trouble  was  given  the  Expedition  dur- 
ing the  winter,  which  was  an  unduly  severe  one,  by 
having  to  protect  their  Mandan  friends  from  the 
attacks  not  only  of  other  and  stronger  tribes  who 
love  to  prey  upon  weaker  ones,  but  from  the  depreda- 
tions of  thievish  bands  of  Indians,  separated  from 
hunting-parties,  who  frequent  the  region  in  the  pur- 
suit of  the  winter  game.  The  stealing  of  horses 
was  the  one  thing  the/  had  frequently  to  guard  the 
tribe  and  themselves  against ;  and  so  common  as  well 
as  annoying  had  this  become  that  Captain  Clark  pro- 
posed joint  action  with  the  Mandans  to  put  a  stop 
by  force  of  arms  to  the  practice.  The  proposal,  how- 
ever, was  not  accepted  by  the  tribe,  though  the  offer, 
becoming  known,  had  a  gratifyingly  deterrent 
effect.  One  of  the  chief  diversions  of  the  winter,  to 
the  exploring  party,  was  an  occasional  buffalo  hunt 
with  their  Indian  allies.  This  frequently  was*  full  of 
exciting  interest,  while,  more  practically,  it  supplied 
the  inmates  of  the  fort  with  plenty  of  choice  game, 
in  addition  to  gifts  of  buffalo  steaks  and  venison, 
which  the  camp  was  enabled  to  send  to  the  Mandan 
villages.  Besides  the  buffalo  hunts,  there  were  the 
outdoor  sports  and  games  frequently  indulged  in, 
and  that  in  spite  of  the  extreme  coldness  of  the  sea- 
son— the  thermometer  often  ranging,  for  many  days 
at  a  time,  from  thirty-two  to  forty  degrees  below 
zero.  These  indulgences  caused  the  winter  to  pass 
pleasantly  for  all;  while  there  was  the  occasional 
night's  dance  with  the  lasses  and  young  braves  of  the 


36  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

neighboring  Mandan  village  to  give  variety  and  the 
spice  of  fun  to  the  youthful  hearts  of  the  Expedition. 
There  were,  moreover,  the  holiday  and  national-day 
entertainments  to  break  in  on  and  enliven  the  tedium 
of  the  winter's  hard  work.  Perhaps  most  interest, 
however,  was  taken  in  buffalo  hunts  with  the  Man- 
dans;  one  such  is  recorded  in  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
"  Journal,"  as  having  occurred  on  a  cold  day  in  De- 
cember, when  Captain  Clark,  with  fifteen  men  of 
the  party,  by  invitation  joined  the  Indians  in  one  of 
these  exciting  sports.  Here  is  the  manner  in  which 
the  hunt  is  set  forth: 

"  The  hunters,  mounted  on  horseback  and  armed 
with  bows  and  arrows,  encircle  the  herd  and  gradu- 
ally drive  them  into  a  plain  or  an  open  space  fit  for 
the  movement  of  horse;  they  then  ride  in  among 
them,  and  singling  out  a  buffalo,  a  female  being  pre- 
ferred, go  as  close  as  possible  and  wound  her  with 
arrows  till  they  think  they  have  given  the  mortal 
stroke; 'when  they  pursue  another  till  the  quiver  is 
exhausted.  If,  which  rarely  happens,  the  wounded 
buffalo  attacks  the  hunter,  he  evades  his  blow  by  the 
agility  of  his  horse,  which  is  trained  for  the  combat 
with  great  dexterity.  When  they  have  killed  the 
requisite  number  they  collect  their  game,  and  the 
squaws  and  attendants  come  up  from  the  rear  and 
skin  and  dress  the  animals.  Captain  Clark  killed  ten 
buffalo,  of  which  five  only  were  brought  to  the  fort, 
the  others,  which  could  not  be  conveyed  home,  being 
seized  by  the  Indians,  among  whom  the  custom  is 
that  whenever  a  buffalo  is  found  dead  without  an 
arrow  or  any  particular  mark,  he  is  the  property  of 


THE   LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION          37 

the  finder ;  so  that  often  a  hunter  secures  scarcely  any 
of  the  game  he  kills,  if  the  arrow  happens  to  fall  off." 

In  another  entry  in  the  "  Journal/'  we  are  in- 
formed that  in  these  hunts  the  Indians  are  often 
joined  by  their  women  and  children.  An  instance 
of  this  is  cited,  under  date  January  13,  1805,  when, 
as  the  "  Journal  "  relates,  "  Nearly  one-half  of  the 
Mandan  nation  passed  down  the  river  to  hunt  for 
several  days.  In  these  excursions,  men,  women,  and 
children,  with  their  dogs,  all  leave  the  village  to- 
gether, and,  after  discovering  a  spot  convenient  for 
the  game,  fix  their  tents;  all  the  family  bear  their 
part  in  the  labor,  and  the  game  is  equally  divided 
among  the  families  of  the  tribe.  When  a  single 
hunter  returns  from  the  chase  with  more  than  is 
necessary  for  his  own  immediate  consumption,  the 
neighbors  are  entitled  by  custom  to  a  share  of  it; 
they  do  not,  however,  ask  for  it,  but  send  a  squaw, 
who,  without  saying  anything,  sits  down  by  the  door 
of  the  lodge  till  the  master  understands  the  hint,  and 
gives  her  gratuitously  a  part  for  her  family." 

In  the  Expedition's  sojourn  among  the  Mandans, 
opportunity,  of  course,  was  taken,  as  in  the  case  of 
visits  to  other  tribes,  to  inform  the  Indians  of  the 
new,  United  States,  masters  of  the  territory.  In 
the  case  of  the  Mandan  tribes,  the  effect  of  the  news 
was  neutralized  in  no  little  degree  by  the  hostility  of 
stray  French  and  English  trappers  and  hunters,  with 
whom  the  tribe  had  long  had  friendly  dealings. 
These  hunters  were  for  the  most  part  members  of 
one  or  other  of  the  two  great  Fur-trading  Com- 
panies (the  Hudson  Bays,  and  the  North- West  Fur 


38  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

Company  of  Canada),  whose  operations  extended 
as  far  south  as  the  Mandan  country,  and  trade 
with  whom  the  Fur  Companies  were  naturally  loth 
to  surrender. 

Of  this  matter,  and  all  other  important  incidents 
that  had  befallen  the  Expedition  since  it  had  set  forth 
on  its  mission,  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clark  were  now  to 
send  report  to  Washington,  when  they  despatched 
the  batteau,  with  an  extemporized  crew,  back  to  St. 
Louis.  This  they  did  on  April  7th  (1805),  the  es- 
corting contingent  that  had  joined  the  party  at  St. 
Louis  returning  on  the  barge  at  the  same  time. 
With  extracts  from  the  official  Journal  of  the  Ex- 
pedition's proceedings,  so  far  as  it  had  gone,  and  the 
scientific  reports  and  collections,  advantage  was 
taken  of  the  return  of  the  batteau  to  forward  sundry 
presents  for  President  Jefferson,  consisting  of  stuffed 
specimens  of  the  animals  of  the  region,  cases  of 
plants,  insects,  etc.,  a  variety  of  skins,  buffalo  robes, 
and  some  fine  elk-horns,  together  with  a  collection 
of  gay  articles  of  Indian  attire.  These,  in  due  time, 
reached  the  national  capital,  and  were  much  appre- 
ciated, not  only  by  the  President,  but  by  the  curators 
of  the  Washington  museums,  where  they  were  duly 
mounted,  labelled,  and  placed  on  exhibition.  When 
this  had  been  done,  the  Expedition  commanders  now 
proceeded  to  resume  their  journey,  all  arrangements 
for  doing  so  having  by  this  time  been  completed; 
while  the  river  was  now  open  after  its  long  winter 
sleep. 


CHAPTER  IV 


ON  THE  UPPER  MISSOURI  TO  THE  JUNCTION  OF  THE 
YELLOWSTONE 

THE  Expedition,  on  parting  from  their  comrades 
returning  down  the  river  to  St.  .Louis,  were  now  to 
set  their  own  faces  westward,  and  be  lost  to  the  ken 
of  the  outer  world  until  their  own  return,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1806.  The  date  on  which  the  main  party 
continued  their  exploring  journey  from  FortMandan 
was  April  8th,  1805,  almost  a  year  after  leaving  St. 
Louis.  The  interval  was  an  exciting  one  to  the  lit- 
tle band  of  explorers;  while  it  was  an  anxious  one 
to  their  friends  at  home,  as  well  as  to  President 
Jefferson  and  the  interested  members  of  his  Admin- 
istration that  had  seen  the  Expedition  go  forth  on 
its  thrilling  but  important  mission.  With  light 
hearts  and  high  enthusiasm,  the  little  party  set  out 
on  their  enterprise;  while  all  were  eager  to  learn 
what  might  befall  them  in  probing  their  dark  and 
untrodden  way  over  the  remaining  portions  of  the 
journey,  across  the  Great  Divide  and  down  the  Co- 
lumbia to  the  Western  Sea.  In  addition  to  the 
original  members  of  the  party,  the  Expedition  now 
took  with  it  a  Frenchman  interpreter,  named  Cha- 
boneau,  his  Indian  wife  and  infant  child,  the  wife 
having  been  a  captive  of  the  Mandans  in  a  war  the 

39 


40  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

tribe  had  had  with  the  Snake  Indians  (the  Sho- 
shones)  of  the  Rockies.  Both  husband  and  wife 
were  to  prove  useful  acquisitions  to  the  party — the 
squaw  especially  so,  as  she  had  a  gentle  disposition, 
and  was  greatly  attached  to  the  whites,  and  hence 
earned  much  praise  for  herself  from  both  leaders  of 
the  Expedition.  Her  name,  which  we  shall  meet 
with  repeatedly,  was  Sacajawea,  or,  in  English  equi- 
valent, the  "  Bird  Woman."  As  the  Expedition  set 
forth,  Captain  Lewis,  in  his  Journal,  makes  the  fol- 
lowing happy  reference  to  its  appearance : 

"  Our  vessels/'  he  observes,  "  consisted  of  six 
small  canoes,  and  two  large  pirogues.  This  little 
fleet,  although  not  quite  so  respectable  as  those  of 
Columbus  or  Captain  Cook,  were  still  viewed  by  us 
with  as  much  pleasure  as  those  deservedly  famed 
adventurers  ever  beheld  theirs;  and  I  daresay  with 
quite  as  much  anxiety  for  their  safety  and  preser- 
vation. We  were  now  about  to  penetrate  a  coun- 
try at  least  two  thousand  miles  in  width,  on  which 
the  foot  of  civilized  man  had  never  trodden;  the 
good  or  evil  it  had  in  store  for  us  was  for  experi- 
ment yet  to  determine,  and  these  little  vessels  con- 
tained every  article  by  which  we  were  to  expect  to 
subsist  or  defend  ourselves.  However,  as  the  state 
of  mind  in  which  we  are,  generally  gives  the  color- 
ing to  events,  when  the  imagination  is  suffered  to 
wander  into  futurity,  the  picture  which  now  pre- 
sented itself  to  me  was  a  most  pleasing  one.  En- 
tertaining as  I  do  the  most  confident  hope  of  suc- 
ceeding in  a  voyage  which  had  formed  a  darling 
project  of  mine  for  the  last  ten  years,  I  could  but 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION         4! 

esteem  this  moment  of  our  departure  as  among  the 
most  happy  of  my  life." 

The  undertaking,  dear  as  we  are  told  it  was,  to 
the  chief  leader  of  the  Expedition,  was  neverthe- 
less a  serious  and  laborious  one,  as  was  further  to 
be  found  in  traversing  the  long  and  weary  distance 
that  still  lay  between  the  Upper  Missouri  waters 
and  the  sea.  There  was,  however,  much  that  was 
novel,  as  well  as  interesting,  to  the  explorers  as  they 
advanced;  and  minute  was  their  observation  of 
everything  they  saw,  not  only  of  the  physical  con- 
formation and  resources  of  the  country  they  passed 
through,  but  of  the  variety  of  Indian  and  animal  life 
they  met  with ;  and  of  the  sport  they  had  in  killing 
the  game  requisite  for  their  daily  sustenance.  Of 
this  game,  much  was  new  to  them,  including  not 
only  the  familiar  elk  and  deer,  of  which  they  had 
had  plentiful  supplies  while  at  Fort  Mandan;  but 
also  the  "  grizzlies  "  of  the  near-by  Rockies,  the 
burrowing  gopher,  mountain  antelope,  buffalo, 
beaver,  otter,  and  the  Canada  wild  goose,  which,  in 
these  high  Western  latitudes,  they  now  met  large 
flocks  of.  The  comparative  nearness  to  the  north- 
ern international  boundary  line  brought  the  party 
not  only  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Canada  beaver  and 
wild  goose,  but  also  to  stray  bands  of  the  Assini- 
boine,  of  the  far  north,  who  were  accustomed  at 
this  era  to  extend  their  hunting  expeditions  as  far 
south  as  the  country  of  the  Dakotas.  Of  this  tribe, 
the  Assiniboines,  the  cruelty  of  which  the  Expedi- 
tion, on  its  passage  up  the  Missouri,  had  heard  rue- 
ful tales  of,  the  party  was  fortunate  not  to  meet  at 


42  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

close  range  with.  The  beaver  and  geese  they  did, 
however,  meet  many  of,  and  to  the  delectation  of  all 
at  meal-time ;  the  beaver,  as  related  in  the  explorers' 
Journal,  being  in  this  part  of  the  Missouri  very 
plentiful,  and  not  only  met  with  "  in  greater  quan- 
tities, but  of  a  larger  and  fatter  kind ;  while  their  fur 
was  more  abundant,  and  of  a  darker  color,  than  any 
hitherto  seen." 

By  this  time,  the  explorers  had  ascended  the  Mis- 
souri for  some  little  distance,  though  they  had  made 
comparatively  slow  progress  on  the  whole,  in  conse- 
quence of  prevailing  head-winds;  while  the  heat, 
early  as  it  was  in  the  season,  was  oppressive,  though 
before  the  end  of  April  it  grew  cool  again,  and  in 
the  early  mornings  a  hard,  white  frost  was  visible 
on  the  river's  banks.  As  the  party  advanced,  we  are 
told  that  many  of  its  members  now  suffered  from 
inflamed  eyes,  the  result  of  exposure  to  the  fine  alka- 
line dust  which  blows  over  the  dry,  arid  region  the 
Expedition  was  now  passing  by,  the  habitat  of  the 
juniper  tree,  dwarf  cedar,  and  wild  sage  bush.  Here, 
the  "  Journal,"  under  date  April  I4th,  gives  us  an 
account  of  the  appearance  of  the  country  and  its 
characteristic  animal  and  plant  life,  as  follows : 

"  The  river  continues  wide  and  of  about  the  same 
rapidity  as  the  ordinary  current  of  the  Ohio.  The 
low  grounds  are  wide,  the  moister  parts  containing 
timber;  the  upland  is  extremely  broken,  without 
wood,  and  in  some  places  seems  as  if  it  had  slipped 
down  in  masses  of  several  acres  in  surface.  The 
mineral  appearance  of  salts,  coal,  and  sulphur,  with 
the  burnt  hill  and  pumice-stone,  continue,  and  a 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          43 

bituminous  water  about  the  color  of  -strong  lye,  with 
the  taste  of  Glauber's  salts  and  a  slight  tincture  of 
alum.  Many  geese  were  feeding  on  the  prairies,  and 
a  number  of  magpies,  which  build  their  nests  much 
like  those  of  the  blackbird,  in  trees,  and  composed 
of  small  sticks,  leaves,  and  grass,  open  at  the  top; 
the  egg  is  of  a  bluish-brown  color,  freckled  with 
reddish-brown  spots.  We  also  killed  a  large  hoot- 
ing-owl  resembling  that  of  the  United  States,  except 
that  it  was  more  booted  and  clad  with  feathers.  On 
the  hills  are  many  aromatic  herbs,  resembling  in 
taste,  smell,  and  appearance  the  sage,  hyssop,  worm- 
wood, southernwood,  juniper,  and  dwarf  cedar;  a 
plant  also  about  two  or  three  feet  high,  similar  to  the 
camphor  in  smell  and  taste  ( ?  wild  sage)  ;  and  an- 
other plant  of  the  same  size,  with  a  long,  narrow, 
smooth,  soft  leaf,  of  an  agreeable  smell  and  flavor, 
which  is  a  favorite  of  the  antelope,  whose  necks  are 
often  perfumed  by  rubbing  against  it."  .  . 
"  The  country  to-day  (vide  the  Journal  of  April 
1 8th)  presented  the  usual  variety  of  highlands  inter- 
spersed with  rich  plains.  In  one  of  these  we  ob- 
served a  species  of  pea  bearing  a  yellow  flower, 
which  is  now  in  blossom,  the  leaf  and  stalk  resem- 
bling the  common  pea.  It  seldom  rises  higher  than 
six  inches,  and  the  root  is  perennial.  On  the  rose- 
bushes we  also  saw  a  quantity  of  the  hair  of  a  buffa- 
lo, which  had  become  perfectly  white  by  exposure 
and  resembled  the  wool  of  the  sheep,  except  that  it 
was  much  finer  and  more  soft  and  silky.  A  buffalo 
which  we  killed  yesterday  had  shed  his  long  hair, 
and  that  which  remained  was  about  two  inches  long, 


44  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

thick,  fine,  and  would  have  furnished  five  pounds  of 
wool,  of  which  we  have  no  doubt  an  excellent  cloth 
might  be  made.  Our  game  to-day  was  a  beaver,  a 
deer,  an  elk,  and  some  geese." 

The  Expedition,  by  the  indications  in  the  current 
of  the  river,  now  began  to  near  the  great  watercourse 
which  the  French  called  the  Jaune,  or  Yellow,  River. 
Hitherto,  what  is  now  known  as  the  Yellowstone, 
which,  rising  in  the  Rockies,  in  the  northwestern  sec- 
tion of  Wyoming,  and,  after  a  course  of  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred,  or  one  thousand  three  hundred 
miles,  flows  through  Montana  and  joins  the  Missouri 
in  North  Dakota  near  the  frontier  of  Montana,  was 
practically  unknown,  though  it  had  been  heard  of 
from  Indian  hunters  and  stray  voyageurs,  and  was 
now  about  to  be  reached  and  ascended  a  few  miles 
by  the  explorers.  Here  the  party  encamped  for  a 
little  while  at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  at  the  junction  of 
the  two  rivers,  the  navigation  of  the  Missouri  at  this 
point  being  slow  and  toilsome,  on  account  of  the 
rapidity  of  the  current  and  having  to  avoid  the  sand- 
bars which  here  bestrew  the  river.  Game  was  here 
found  plentiful,  though  the  party  only  killed  what 
was  necessary  for  immediate  subsistence.  "  For 
several  days  past,"  observes  the  Journal  under 
date  April  27,  "  we  have  seen  great  numbers  of 
buffalo  lying  dead  along  the  shore,  some  of  them 
partly  devoured  by  the  wolves.  They  have  either 
sunk  through  the  ice  during  the  winter,  or  been 
drowned  in  attempting  to  cross ;  or  else,  after  cross- 
ing to  some  high  bluff,  have  found  themselves  too 
much  exhausted  either  to  ascend  or  swim  back  again 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION          4$ 

and  perished  for  want  of  food;  in  this  situation  we 
found  several  small  parties  of  them.  There  are 
geese,  too,  in  abundance,  and  more  bald  eagles  than 
we  have  hitherto  observed;  the  nests  of  these  last 
being  always  accompanied  by  those  of  two  or  three 
magpies,  who  are  their  inseparable  attendants." 


CHAPTER  V 

AMONG  WOLVES,    GRIZZLIES,   AND  BUFFALO,  TO  THE 
FALLS   OF   THE    MISSOURI 

AFTER  passing  the  entrance  of  the  Yellowstone, 
the  Expedition  proceeded  onward,  up  the  now  muddy 
Missouri,  which  from  its  many  rapids  and  other  ob- 
structions in  the  stream  the  party  found  the  passage 
toilsome  and  fatiguing.  Here,  in  many  parts  of  the 
river,  the  boats,  they  found,  could  not  be  propelled 
with  the  oars,  and  hence  they  were  necessitated  to 
draw  them  with  tow-lines  from  the  banks.  The 
difficulties  of  navigation  were,  however,  in  much 
measure  relieved  by  the  sport  found  in  the  region, 
the  game  here,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  foot-hills 
of  the  Rockies  which  they  had  now  reached,  being 
increasingly  plentiful  and  at  times  excitingly  risky 
to  kill.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  encounters 
with  bruin,  one  of  which  is  described  in  the  Journal 
at  the  close  of  April  (1805).  Here  is  the  record 
of  the  previous  day's  sport : 

"  Captain  Lewis,  who  was  on  shore  with  one 
hunter,  met,  about  eight  o'clock,  two  white  bears. 
Of  the  strength  and  ferocity  of  these  animals  the 
Indians  had  given  us  dreadful  accounts.  They  never 
attack  the  bear  but  in  parties  of  six  or  eight  persons, 
and  even  then  are  often  defeated  with  a  loss  of  one  or 
more  of  their  party.  Having  no  weapons  but  bows 

46 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          4? 

and  arrows,  and  the  bad  guns  with  which  the  traders 
supply  them,  they  are  obliged  to  approach  very  near 
to  the  bear;  as  no  wound  except  through  the  head 
or  heart  is  mortal,  they  frequently  fall  a  sacrifice  if 
they  miss  their  aim.  He  rather  attacks  than  avoids 
a  man,  and  such  is  the  terror  which  he  has  inspired, 
that  the  Indians  who  go  in  quest  of  him  paint  them- 
selves, and  perform  all  the  superstitious  rites  cus- 
tomary when  they  make  war  on  a  neighboring  na- 
tion. Hitherto,  those  bears  we  had  seen  did  not 
appear  desirous  of  encountering  us ;  but  although  to 
a  skilful  rifleman  the  danger  is  much  diminished, 
yet  the  white  bear  is  still  a  terrible  animal.  On  ap- 
proaching these  two,  both  Captain  Lewis  and  the 
hunter  fired,  and  each  wounded  a  bear.  One  of  them 
made  his  escape;  the  other  turned  upon  Lewis  and 
pursued  him  seventy  or  eighty  yards,  but  being  badly 
wounded  the  bear  could  not  run  so  fast  as  to  prevent 
him  from  reloading  his  piece,  which  he  again  aimed 
at  him,  and  a  third  shot  from  the  hunter  brought 
him  to  the  ground.  He  was  a  male,  not  quite  full 
grown,  and  weighed  about  three  hundred  pounds. 
The  legs  are  somewhat  longer  than  those  of  the 
black  bear,  and  the  talons  and  tusks  are  much  larger 
and  longer.  Its  color  is  a  yellowish-brown ;  the  eyes 
are  small,  black,  and  piercing ;  the  front  of  the  fore- 
legs near  the  feet  is  usually  black,  and  the  fur  is 
finer,  thicker,  and  deeper  than  that  of  the  black  bear. 
Add  to  which,  it  is  a  more  furious  animal,  and  very 
remarkable  for  the  wounds  which  it  will  bear  with- 
out dying." 

The  other  game  met  with  in  the  region  included 


48  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

elk,  deer,  buffalo,  beaver,  porcupine,  and  antelope, 
together  with  ducks,  geese,  and  some  swans. 
Wolves  were  also  met  with,  of  the  variety  now 
known  as  the  coyote,  a  fleet,  sly,  but  in  the  main 
cowardly,  animal.  Here  is  the  Journal's  observa- 
tions on  them : 

"  The  ears  are  large,  erect,  and  pointed ;  the  head 
is  long  and  also  pointed,  like  that  of  the  fox ;  the  tail 
long  and  bushy ;  the  hair  and  fur  are  of  a  pale  red- 
dish-brown color,  though  much  coarser  than  that  of 
the  fox;  the  eye  is  of  a  deep  sea-green  color,  small 
and  piercing ;  the  talons  are  rather  longer  than  those 
of  the  wolf  of  the  Atlantic  States,  which  animal,  as 
far  as  we  can  perceive,  is  not  to  be  found  on  this 
side  of  the  Platte.  These  wolves  usually  associate 
in  bands  of  ten  or  twelve,  and  are  rarely,  if  ever, 
seen  alone,  not  being  able  singly  to  attack  a  deer  or 
antelope.  They  live  and  rear  their  young  in  bur- 
rows, which  they  fix  near  some  pass  or  spot  much 
frequented  by  game,  and  sally  out  in  a  body  against 
any  animal  which  they  think  they  can  overpower; 
but  on  the  slightest  alarm  retreat  to  their  burrows, 
making  a  noise  exactly  like  that  of  a  small  dog. 
...  A  second  species  is  lower,  shorter  in  the  legs, 
and  thicker  than  the  Atlantic  wolf ;  the  color,  which 
is  not  affected  by  the  seasons,  is  of  every  variety  of 
shade,  from  a  gray  or  blackish-brown  to  a  cream- 
colored  white.  They  do  not  burrow,  nor  do  they 
bark,  but  howl ;  they  frequent  the  woods  and  plains, 
and  skulk  along  the  skirts  of  the  buffalo  herds,  in 
order  to  attack  the  weary  or  wounded." 

By  this  time,  the  explorers,  being  now  well  within 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          49 

the  Montana  country,  their  interest  was  turned  to- 
wards the  great  elevations  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
whose  crests  Captain  Lewis  had  seen  from  a  high 
hill  he  ascended,  and  which  then  lay  afar  off  on  the 
western  horizon.  By  about  the  middle  of  June,  the 
Expedition  reached  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Missouri, 
whose  roar  had  been  heard  for  some  time  before  the 
party  confronted  the  mighty  spectacle.  The  river 
here  "  descends  the  mountain  side  about  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  feet  in  the  course  of  sixteen  miles. 
There  are  four  distinct  cataracts,"  states  an  his- 
torical authority  (Prof.  H.  W.  Elson,  in  his  "  Side 
Lights  on  American  History  "),  "  the  largest  being  a 
leap  of  eighty-seven  feet  over  a  perpendicular  wall. 
Between  the  cataracts  are  rapids  where  the  water 
leaps  and  rages  as  if  possessed  by  evil  spirits.  Far 
above  the  mad,  seething  river  rises  a  cloud  of  rain- 
bow-tinted spray,  which  floats  peacefully  away  over 
the  forest  until  dissolved  into  air  by  the  sun.  On 
reaching  the  Great  Falls  the  party  were  obliged  to 
carry  their  canoes  for  eighteen  miles,  when  they 
again  made  use  of  the  river.  After  a  journey  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-one  miles  from  the  Falls  they 
reach  a  place  where  the  Missouri  breaks  through 
great  mountain  walls  many  hundred  feet  in  height, 
and  they  call  it  the  *  Gates  of  the  Rocky  Mountains/ 
They  are  still  four  hundred  miles  from  the  source  of 
the  river,  and  their  journey  continues." 

Before  coming  to  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Missouri, 

the  Expedition  had  passed  the  Porcupine,  Milk,  and 

Dry  River  streams,  the  two  first  named  falling  into 

the  Missouri  from  the  north,  and  the  latter  from  the 

A.  B.,  VOL.  v.  —  4 


50  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

south.  Beyond  these  rivers,  they  came  to  one  which 
the  explorers  named  the  Marie,  and  which  for  a  time 
they  mistook  for  the  main  river  of  the  Missouri. 
They  finally  took  the  direct  course  of  the  stream, 
stopping  for  a  time  here  to  cache  such  deep-draught 
boats  as  they  could  not  now  use  or  handily  portage, 
and  such  other  articles  as  they  could  dispense  with 
on  the  remainder  of  the  journey.  Of  the  great  spec- 
tacle of  the  Falls  of  the  Missouri,  we  naturally  get 
a  glowing  description  in  the  pages  of  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  "  Journal/'  This  stupendous  object,  which 
delighted  all  by  its  sublimity,  is  spoken  of  by  the 
explorers  as  one  which  "  since  the  creation  had  been 
lavishing  its  magnificence  upon  the  desert,  unknown 
to  civilization." 

"  The  river  immediately  at  the  cascades/'  observes 
the  writer,  "  is  three  hundred  yards  wide,  and  is 
pressed  in  by  a  perpendicular  cliff  on  the  left,  which 
rises  to  about  one  hundred  feet  and  extends  up  the 
stream  for  a  mile ;  on  the  right  the  bluff  is  also  per- 
pendicular for  three  hundred  yards  above  the  Falls. 
For  ninety  or  one  hundred  yards  from  the  left  cliff, 
the  water  falls  in  one  smooth,  even  sheet,  over  a 
precipice  of  at  least  eighty  feet.  The  remaining  part 
of  the  river  precipitates  itself  with  a  more  rapid  cur- 
rent, but  being  received  as  it  falls  by  the  irregular 
and  somewhat  projecting  rocks  below,  forms  a  splen- 
did prospect  of  perfectly  white  foam,  two  hundred 
yards  in  length  and  eighty  in  perpendicular  elevation. 
This  spray  is  dissipated  into  a  thousand  shapes, 
sometimes  flying  up  in  columns  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
feet,  which  are  then  oppressed  by  larger  masses  of 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION  $1 

the  white  foam,  on  all  of  which  the  sun  impresses  the 
brightest  colors  of  the  rainbow.  Below  the  Falls  the 
water  beats  with  fury  against  a  ledge  of  rocks,  which 
extends  across  the  river  at  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  from  the  precipice.  From  the  perpendicular 
cliff  on  the  north  to  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  yards,  the  rocks  are  only  a  few  feet  above  the 
water;  and,  when  the  river  is  high,  the  stream  finds 
a  channel  across  them  forty  yards  wide,  and  near  the 
higher  parts  of  the  ledge,  which  rise  about  twenty 
feet,  and  terminate  abruptly  within  eighty  or  ninety 
yards  of  the  southern  side.  Between  them  and  the 
perpendicular  cliff  on  the  south,  the  whole  body  of 
water  runs  with  great  swiftness.  A  few  small  cedars 
grow  near  this  ridge  of  rocks,  which  serves  as  a  bar- 
rier to  defend  a  small  plain  of  about  three  acres, 
shaded  with  cottonwood;  at  the  lower  extremity  of 
which  is  a  grove  of  the  same  trees,  where  are  several 
deserted  Indian  cabins  of  sticks;  below  which  the 
river  is  divided  by  a  large  rock,  several  feet  above 
the  surface  of  the  water,  and  extending  down  the 
stream  for  twenty  yards.  At  the  distance  of  three 
hundred  yards  from  the  same  ridge  is  a  second  abut- 
ment of  solid  perpendicular  rock,  about  sixty  feet 
high,  projecting  at  right  angles  from  the  small  plain 
on  the  north  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  yards 
into  the  river.  After  leaving  this,  the  Missouri  again 
spreads  itself  to  its  previous  breadth  of  three  hundred 
yards,  though  with  more  than  its  ordinary  rapidity." 

Of  the  rapids  above  the  Falls,  Captain  Lewis  gives 
us  an  account  in  the  "  Journal."  In  it  he  relates  that : 


52  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

"  After  passing  one  continued  rapid  and  three 
cascades,  each  three  or  four  feet  high,  he  reached,  at 
the  distance  of  five  miles,  a  second  fall.  The  river  is 
here  about  four  hundred  yards  wide,  and  for  the  dis- 
tance of  three  hundred  feet  rushes  down  to  the  depth 
of  nineteen  feet,  and  so  irregularly  that  he  gave  it  the 
name  of  the  Crooked  Falls.  From  the  southern  shore 
it  extends  obliquely  upward  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards,  and  then  forms  an  acute  angle  down- 
ward nearly  to  the  commencement  of  four  small 
islands  close  to  the  northern  side.  From  the  perpen- 
dicular pitch  to  these  islands,  a  distance  of  more  than 
one  hundred  yards,  the  water  glides  down  a  sloping 
rock  with  a  velocity  almost  equal  to  that  of  its  fall : 
above  this  fall  the  river  bends  suddenly  to  the  north- 
ward. While  viewing  this  place,  Captain  Lewis 
heard  a  loud  roar  above  him,  and,  crossing  the  point 
of  a  hill  a  few  hundred  yards,  he  saw  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  objects  in  nature:  the  whole  Missouri  is 
suddenly  stopped  by  one  shelving  rock,  which,  with- 
out a  single  niche,  and  with  an  edge  as  straight  and 
regular  as  if  formed  by  art,  stretches  itself  from  one 
side  of  the  river  to  the  other  for  at  least  a  quarter  of 
a  mile.  Over  this  it  precipitates  itself  in  an  even, 
uninterrupted  sheet,  to  the  perpendicular  depth  of 
fifty  feet,  whence,  dashing  against  the  rocky  bottom, 
it  rushes  rapidly  down,  leaving  behind  it  a  sheet  of 
the  purest  foam  across  the  river.  The  scene  which  it 
presented  was  indeed  singularly  beautiful;  since, 
without  any  of  the  wild,  irregular  sublimity  of  the 
lower  falls,  it  combined  all  the  regular  elegancies 
which  the  fancy  of  a  painter  would  select  to  form  a 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION  53 

beautiful  waterfall.  The  eye  had  scarcely  been  re- 
galed with  this  charming  prospect,  when  at  the  dis- 
tance of  half  a  mile  Captain  Lewis  observed  another 
of  a  similar  kind.  To  this  he  immediately  hastened, 
and  found  a  cascade  stretching  across  the  whole  rivei 
for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  with  a  descent  of  fourteen 
feet,  though  the  perpendicular  pitch  was  only  six 
feet.  This,  too,  in  any  other  neighborhood,  would 
have  been  an  object  of  great  magnificence;  but  after 
what  he  had  just  seen,  it  became  of  secondary  in- 
terest. His  curiosity  being,  however,  awakened,  he 
determined  to  go  on,  even  should  night  overtake  him, 
to  the  head  of  the  falls. 

"  He  therefore  pursued  the  southwest  course  of 
the  river,  which  was  one  constant  succession  of  rap- 
ids and  small  cascades,  at  every  one  of  which  the 
bluffs  grew  lower,  or  the  bed  of  the  river  became 
more  on  a  level  with  the  plains.  At  the  distance  of 
two  and  one-half  miles  he  arrived  at  another  cata- 
ract, of  twenty-six  feet.  The  river  is  here  six  hun- 
dred yards  wide,  but  the  descent  is  not  immediately 
perpendicular,  though  the  river  falls  generally  with 
a  regular  and  smooth  sheet;  for  about  one-third  of 
the  descent  a  rock  protrudes  to  a  small  distance,  re- 
ceives the  water  in  its  passage,  and  gives  it  a  curve. 
On  the  south  side  is  a  beautiful  plain,  a  few  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  falls ;  on  the  north,  the  country 
is  more  broken,  and  there  is  a  hill  not  far  from  the 
river.  Just  below  the  falls  is  a  little  island  in  the 
middle  of  the  river,  well  covered  with  timber.  Here 
on  a  cottonwood  tree  an  eagle  had  fixed  her  nest,  and 
seemed  the  undisputed  mistress  of  a  spot,  to  contest 


54  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

whose  dominion  neither  man  nor  beast  would  ven- 
ture across  the  gulfs  that  surround  it,  and  which  is 
further  secured  by  the  mist  rising  from  the  falls. 
This  solitary  bird  could  not  escape  the  observation 
of  the  Indians,  who  made  the  eagle's  nest  a  part  of 
their  description  of  the  falls,  which  now  proves  to 
be  correct  in  almost  every  particular,  except  that  they 
did  not  do  justice  to  the  height. 

"  Just  above  this  is  a  cascade  of  about  five  feet, 
beyond  which,  as  far  as  could  be  discerned,  the  ve- 
locity of  the  water  seemed  to  abate.  Captain  Lewis 
now  ascended  the  hill  which  was  behind  him,  and 
saw  from  its  top  a  delightful  plain,  extending  from 
the  river  to  the  base  of  the  Snowy  [Rocky]  Moun- 
tains to  the  south  and  southwest.  Along  this  wide, 
level  country  the  Missouri  pursued  its  winding 
course,  filled  with  water  to  its  smooth,  grassy  banks, 
while  about  four  miles  above,  it  was  joined  by  a 
large  river  flowing  from  the  northwest,  through  a 
valley  three  miles  in  width,  and  distinguished  by  the 
timber  which  adorned  its  shores.  The  Missouri  it- 
self stretches  to  the  south,  in  one  unruffled  stream 
of  water,  as  if  unconscious  of  the  roughness  it  must 
soon  encounter,  and  bearing  on  its  bosom  vast  flocks 
of  geese,  while  numerous  herds  of  buffalo  are  feed- 
ing on  the  plains  which  surround  it. 

"  Captain  Lewis  then  descended  the  hill,  and  di- 
rected his  course  towards  the  river  falling  in  from 
the  west.  He  soon  met  a  herd  of  at  least  a  thousand 
buffalo,  and,  being  desirous  of  providing  for  supper, 
shot  one  of  them.  The  animal  immediately  began 
to  bleed,  and  Captain  Lewis,  who  had  forgotten  to 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          55 

reload  his  rifle,  was  intently  watching  to  see  him  fall, 
when  he  beheld  a  large  brown  bear  which  was  steal- 
ing on  him  unperceived,  and  was  already  within 
twenty  steps.  In  the  first  moment  of  surprise  he 
lifted  his  rifle;  but,  remembering  instantly  that  it 
was  not  charged,  and  that  he  had  no  time  to  reload, 
he  felt  that  there  was  no  safety  but  in  flight.  It  was 
in  the  open,  level  plain ;  not  a  bush  nor  a  tree  within 
three  hundred  yards ;  'the  bank  of  the  river  sloping, 
and  not  more  than  three  feet  high,  so  that  there  was 
no  possible  mode  of  concealment.  Captain  Lewis, 
therefore,  thought  of  retreating  with  a  quick  walk, 
as  fast  as  the  bear  advanced,  towards  the  nearest 
tree ;  but,  as  soon  as  he  turned,  the  bear  rushed  open- 
mouthed,  and  at  full  speed,  upon  him.  Captain 
Lewis  ran  about  eighty  yards,  but  finding  that  the- 
animal  gained  on  him  fast,  it  flashed  on  his  mind 
that,  by  getting  into  the  water  to  such  a  depth  that 
the  bear  would  be  obliged  to  attack  him  swimming, 
there  was  still  some  chance  of  his  life;  he  therefore 
turned  short,  plunged  into  the  river  about  waist-deep, 
and  facing  about  presented  the  point  of  his  espon- 
toon.  The  bear  arrived  at  the  water's  edge  within 
twenty  feet  of  him ;  but  as  soon  as  he  put  himself  in 
this  posture  of  defence,  the  bear  seemed  frightened, 
and  wheeling  about,  retreated  with  as  much  precipi- 
tation as  he  had  pursued.  Very  glad  to  be  released 
from  this  danger,  Captain  Lewis  returned  to  the 
shore,  and  observed  him  run  with  great  speed,  some- 
times looking  back  as  if  he  expected  to  be  pursued, 
till  he  reached  the  woods.  He  could  not  conceive 
the  cause  of  the  sudden  alarm  of  the  bear,  but  con- 


56  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

gratulated  himself  on  his  escape  when  he  saw  his 
own  track  torn  to  pieces  by  the  furious  animal,  and 
learned  from  the  whole  adventure  never  to  suffer 
his  rifle  to  be  a  moment  unloaded." 

Some  time  was  consumed  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Great  Falls  of  the  Missouri,  occasioned  by  having  to 
portage  the  party  and  its  effects  about  eighteen  miles, 
so  as  to  overcome  the  cascades  and  rapids  of  the 
river,  as  well  as  to  give  the  final  touches  to  a  boat  of 
stout  skins,  the  frame  of  which  they  had  brought 
with  them  from  St.  Louis  for  the  later  purposes  of 
the  journey.  It  was  well  on  in  July  (1805)  before 
all  was  ready  for  the  continued  transportation,  as  far 
as  the  now  shallow  and  tortuous  waters  of  the  Mis- 
souri would  carry  them,  to  the  point  where  they 
would  have  to  cross  the  Great  Divide  and  seek  the 
Columbia  River,  on  which  they  designed  to  push 
their  way  finally  to  the  Pacific. 


CHAPTER  VI 


AT  THE  SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSOURI,  TO  THE  FOOT  OF 


THE  "  GREAT  DIVIDE  " 


AFTER  once  more  getting  under  way,  the  Expedi- 
tion's progress  was  at  first  slow,  owing  to  the  ob- 
stacles encountered  in  navigating  the  waters  of  the 
Upper  Missouri.  What  these  obstacles  were,  we 
learn  from  the  "  Journal,"  from  which  we  have  often 
and  largely  quoted.  Under  date,  July  17,  it  in- 
forms us  that  "  the  navigation  is  now  very  laborious. 
The  river  is  deep,  but  with  little  current,  and  from 
seventy  to  one  hundred  yards  wide ;  the  low  grounds 
are  very  narrow,  with  but  little  timber,  and  that 
chiefly  the  aspen  tree.  The  cliffs  are  steep,  and  hang 
over  the  river  so  much  that  often  we  could  not  cross 
them,  but  were  obliged  to  pass  and  repass  from  one 
side  of  the  river  to  the  other,  in  order  to  make  our 
way.  In  some  places  the  banks  are  formed  of  dark 
or  black  granite,  rising  perpendicularly  to  a  great 
height,  through  which  the  river  seems,  in  the  prog- 
ress of  time,  to  have  worn  its  channel.  On  these 
mountains  we  see  more  pine  than  usual,  but  it  is  still 
in  small  quantities.  Along  the  bottoms,  which  have 
a  covering  of  high  grass,  we  observed  the  sunflower 
blooming  in  great  abundance.  The  Indians  of  the 

57 


58  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

Missouri,  more  especially  those  who  do  not  cultivate 
maize,  make  great  use  of  the  seed  of  this  plant  for 
bread,  or  in  thickening  their  soup.  They  first  parch 
and  then  pound  it  between  two  stones,  until  it  is  re- 
duced to  a  fine  jneal.  Sometimes  they  add  a  portion 
of  water,  and  drink  it  thus  diluted;  at  other  times 
they  add  a  sufficient  proportion  of  marrow-grease  to 
reduce  it  to  the  consistency  of  common  dough,  and 
eat  it  in  that  manner.  This  last  composition  we  pre- 
ferred to  all  the  rest,  and  thought  it  at  that  time  a 
very  palatable  dish." 

The  Expedition  commanders  were  now  anxious 
about  the  means  of  getting  over  the  barrier  of  the 
Rockies,  as  well  as  to  procure  guides  and  horses  for 
the  land  journey.  For  some  time  back  they  had  seen 
no  Indians;  but  the  woman  of  their  party,  Saca- 
jawea,  who  on  the  way  up  had  been,  and  repeatedly, 
of  the  highest  service  to  the  Expedition,  now  told 
them  that  they  were  then  nearing  the  country  of  the 
Snake  Indians,  or  Shoshones,  from  which  tribe  she 
many  years  ago  had  been  stolen  as  a  child.  There, 
she  informed  Lewis  and  Clark,  they  would  be  sure  to 
find  both  guides  and  horses,  were  they  able  to  hail 
and  speak  with 'her  people.  To  prove  that  she  re- 
membered her  old  home  and  that  she  knew  that  the 
party  were  now  nearing  it,  Sacajawea  told  the  lead- 
ers that  they  would  presently  arrive  at  a  distinctive 
and  characteristic  part  of  the  river,  known  as  the 
Three  Forks  of  the  Missouri ;  and  here,  true  enough, 
they  found  themselves  on  July  25th — the  streams 
being  respectively  named  by  Lewis  and  Clark  the 
Jefferson,  the  Madison,  and  the  Gallatin,  in  honor  of 


THE    LEWIS   AND    CLARK    EXPEDITION  59 

the  President,  the  Secretary  of  State,'  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  in  the  Jefferson  Administra- 
tion. Another  cause  of  anxiety  to  the  party  leaders 
at  this  juncture  was  the  desire  to  get  among  some 
Indian  tribes  with  whom  they  might  do  a  little  trad- 
ing, for  of  late  the  Expedition's  larder  had  been  but 
scantily  supplied,  game  so  far  north  being  somewhat 
scarce,  and  what  they  had  had  the  party  chefs  had 
not  been  frugal  in  the  use  of.  "  Nothing,"  records 
the  "Journal"  (July  31),  "was  killed  to-day;  nor 
have  we  had  any  fresh  meat  except  one  beaver  for 
the  last  two  days ;  so  that  we  are  now  reduced  to  an 
unusual  situation,  for  we  have  hitherto  always  had 
a  great  abundance  of  flesh.  .  .  .  When  we  have 
plenty  of  fresh  meat,"  the  writer  complains,  "  I  find 
it  impossible  to  make  the  men  take  any  care  of  it,  or 
use  it  with  the  least  frugality,  though  I  expect  that 
necessity  will  shortly  teach  them  this  art." 

The  anxiety  as  to  the  provender  question  was  for 
the  time  allayed  by  the  success  of  the  Expedition's 
hunters  in  killing  two  deer,  on  which  the  party,  after 
their  fast,  feasted  sumptuously,  with,  we  are  told,  a 
dessert  of  currants  and  choke-berries,  besides  "  some 
wild  onions  of  good  flavor  and  size."  The  desire  of 
the  party  leaders  to  fall  in  with  the  Shoshones  was 
also  somewhat  set  at  rest,  as  the  "  Journal  "  relates, 
by  further  evidence  of  the  squaw's  recognizing  as 
familiar  to  her  the  region  they  are  now  passing. 
"We  are  delighted  to  find,"  states  the  "Journal," 
"  that  the  Indian  woman  recognizes  the  country ;  she 
tells  us  that  here  (at  a  creek  near  by)  her  country- 
men make  excursions  to  procure  white  paint  on  its 


60  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

banks.  We  therefore  call  it  White-Earth  Creek. 
She  says  also  that  the  Three  Forks  of  the  Missouri 
are  at  no  great  distance,"  as  had  already  been  ascer- 
tained. The  "  Journal  "  adds,  under  date  July  27th : 
"  We  are  now  very  anxious  to  see  the  Snake  Indians. 
After  advancing  for  several  hundred  miles  into  this 
wild  and  mountainous  country  we  may  soon  expect 
that  the  game  will  abandon  us.  With  no  informa- 
tion of  the  route,  we  may  be  unable  to  find  a  passage 
across  the  mountains  when  we  reach  the  head  of  the 
river  (the  Missouri) — at  least,  such  a  pass  as  will 
lead  us  to  the  Columbia.  Even  were  we  so  fortunate 
as  to  find  a  branch  of  that  river,  the  timber  which 
we  have  hitherto  seen  in  the  mountains  does  not 
promise  us  any  fit  to  make  canoes,  so  that  our  chief 
dependence  is  on  meeting  some  tribe  from  whom  we 
may  procure  horses.  Our  consolation  is  that  this 
southwest  branch  (the  Jefferson)  can  scarcely  head 
with  any  other  river  than  the  Columbia ;  and  that  if 
any  nation  of  Indians  can  live  in  the  mountains  we 
are  able  to  endure  as  much  as  they  can,  and  have 
even  better  means  of  procuring  subsistence." 

A  day  or  two  after  this,  the  "  Journal  "  makes  the 
following  further  reference  to  the  squaw  and  her 
early  recollections  of  her  old  home  among  the  Sho- 
shone  or  Snake  Indians : 

"  Sacajawea,  our  Indian  woman,  informs  us  that 
we  are  encamped  on  the  precise  spot  where  her 
countrymen,  the  Snake  Indians,  had  their  huts  five 
years  ago,  when  the  Minnetarees  of  Knife  River 
first  came  in  sight  of  them,  and  from  which  they 
hastily  retreated  three  miles  up  the  Jefferson,  and 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          6 1 

concealed  themselves  in  the  woods.  The  Minneta- 
rees,  however,  pursued  and  attacked  them,  killed  four 
men,  as  many  women,  and  a  number  of  boys;  and 
made  prisoners  of  four  other  boys,  and  all  the  fe- 
males, of  whom  Sacajawea  was  one;  she  does  not, 
however,  show  any  distress  at  these  recollections, 
nor  any  joy  at  the  prospect  of  being  restored  to  her 
country;  for  she  seems  to  possess  the  folly  or  the 
philosophy  of  not  suffering  her  feelings  to  extend 
beyond  the  anxiety  of  having  plenty  to  eat  and  a  few 
trinkets  to  wear." 

The  Expedition,  meanwhile,  continued  briskly  on 
its  way,  a  good  lookout  being  kept  for  any  signs  of 
Indian  life  in  the  neighborhood,  that  the  party  might 
procure  what  they  now  urgently  wanted — guides 
and  horses.  Here  the  "  Journal,"  on  the  8th  of 
August,  chronicles  that: 

"  On  our  right  is  the  point  of  a  high  plain,  which 
our  Indian  woman  recognizes  as  the  place  called  the 
Beaver's-head  from  a  supposed  resemblance  to  that 
object.  This  she  says  is  not  far  from  the  summer 
retreat  of  her  countrymen,  which  is  on  a  river  be- 
yond the  mountains,  and  running  to  the  west.  She 
is  therefore  certain  that  we  shall  meet  them  either 
on  this  river,  or  on  that  immediately  west  of  its 
source,  which,  judging  from  its  present  size,  cannot 
be  far  distant.  Persuaded  of  the  absolute  necessity 
of  procuring  horses  to  cross  the  mountains,  it  was 
determined  that  one  of  us  should  proceed  in  the 
morning  to  the  head  of  the  river,  and  penetrate  the 
mountains  till  he  found  the  Shoshones  or  some  other 
nation  who  could  assist  us  in  transporting  our  bag- 


62  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

gage,  the  greater  part  of  which  we  shall  be  compelled 
to  leave  without  the  aid  of  horses." 

On  the  nth  of  the  month  (August),  Captain 
Lewis,  then  being  ashore  on  his  hunt  for  some  trace 
of  the  Shoshones,  finally  perceived  an  Indian  on 
horseback  at  the  distance  of  two  miles  coming  down 
the  plain  toward  him,  and  his  two  companions 
(Drewyer  and  Shields)  who  were  with  him.  Un- 
fortunately, in  this  first  encounter  with  the  natives 
of  the  region,  Lewis,  as  it  will  be  seen,  was  not  suc- 
cessful in  getting  near  the  Indians  for  a  parley. 
That  desired  object  was,  however,  to  be  gained  a 
little  later. 

"  On  examining  him  (the  Indian) with  the  glass, 
Captain  Lewis  saw  that  he  was  of  a  different  nation 
from  any  Indians  we  had  hitherto  met ;  he  was  armed 
with  a  bow  and  a  quiver  of  arrows ;  mounted  on  an 
elegant  horse  without  a  saddle,  and  a  small  string 
attached  to  the  under  jaw  answered  as  a  bridle. 
Convinced  that  he  was  a  Shoshone,  and  knowing 
how  much  of  our  success  depended  on  the  friendly 
offices  of  that  nation,  Captain  Lewis  was  full  of 
anxiety  to  approach  without  alarming  him,  and  en- 
deavor to  convince  him  that  he  was  a  white  man. 
He,  therefore,  proceeded  on  towards  the  Indian  at  his 
usual  pace,  when  they  were  within  a  mile  of  each 
other  the  Indian  suddenly  stopped,  Captain  Lewis 
immediately  followed  his  example,  took  his  blanket 
from  his  knapsack,  and  holding  it  with  both  hands  at 
the  two  corners,  threw  it  above  his  head  and  un- 
folded it  as  he  brought  it  to  the  ground  as  if  in  the 
act  of  spreading  it.  This  signal  which  originates  in 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          63 

the  practice  of  spreading  a  robe  or  a  skin,  as  a  seat 
for  guests  to  whom  they  wish  to  show  a  distin- 
guished kindness,  is  the  universal  sign  of  friendship 
among  the  Indians  on  the  Missouri  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  As  usual,  Captain  Lewis  repeated  this 
signal  three  times ;  still  the  Indian  kept  his  position, 
and  looked  with  an  air  of  suspicion  on  Drewyer  and 
Shields  who  were  now  advancing  on  each  side.  Cap- 
tain Lewis  was  afraid  to  make  any  signal  for  them 
to  halt,  lest  he  should  increase  the  suspicions  of  the 
Indian,  who  began  to  be  uneasy,  and  they  were  too 
distant  to  hear  his  voice.  He,  therefore,  took  from 
his  pack  some  beads,  a  looking-glass  and  a  few 
trinkets,  which  he  had  brought  for  the  purpose,  and 
leaving  his  gun  advanced  unarmed  towards  the  In- 
dian. He  remained  in  the  same  position  till  Captain 
Lewis  came  within  two  hundred  yards  of  him,  when 
he  turned  his  horse,  and  began  to  move  off  slowly; 
Captain  Lewis  then  called  out  to  him,  in  as  loud  a 
voice  as  he  could,  repeating  the  words  tabba  bone! 
which  in  the  Shoshone  language  means  white  man ; 
but  looking  over  his  shoulder  the  Indian  kept  his  eyes 
on  Drewyer  and  Shields,  who  were  still  advancing, 
without  recollecting  the  impropriety  of  doing  so  at 
such  a  moment,  till  Captain  Lewis  made  a  signal  to 
them  to  halt;  this  Drewyer  obeyed,  but  Shields  did 
not  observe  it,  and  still  went  forward ;  seeing  Drew- 
yer halt  the  Indian  turned  his  horse  about  as  if  to 
wait  for  Captain  Lewis  who  now  reached  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  paces,  repeating  the  words  tabba 
bone,  and  holding  up  the  trinkets  in  his  hand,  at  the 
same  time  stripping  up  the  sleeve  of  his  shirt  to  show 


64  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  color  of  his  skin.  The  Indian  suffered  him  to 
advance  within  one  hundred  paces,  then  suddenly 
turned  his  horse,  and  giving  him  the  whip,  leaped 
across  the  creek  and  disappeared  in  an  instant  among 
the  willow  bushes;  with  him  vanished  all  the  hopes 
which  the  sight  of  him  had  inspired  of  a  friendly  in- 
troduction to  his  countrymen.  Though  sadly  disap- 
pointed by  the  imprudence  of  his  two  men,  Captain 
Lewis  determined  to  make  the  incident  of  some  use, 
and  therefore  calling  the  men  to  him  they  all  set  off 
after  the  track  of  the  horse,  which  they  hoped  might 
lead  them  to  the  camp  of  the  Indian  who  had  fled, 
or  if  he  had  given  the  alarm  to  any  small  party,  their 
track  might  conduct  them  to  the  body  of  the  nation. 
They  now  fixed  a  small  flag  of  the  United  States  on  a 
pole,  which  was  carried  by  one  of  the  men  as  a  signal 
of  their  friendly  intentions,  should  the  Indians  ob- 
serve them  as  they  were  advancing.  The  route  lay 
across  an  island  formed  by  a  nearly  equal  division  of 
the  creek  in  the  bottom;  after  reaching  the  open 
grounds  on  the  right  side  of  the  creek,  the  track 
turned  towards  some  high  hills  about  three  miles 
distant.  Presuming  that  the  Indian  camp  might  be 
among  these  hills,  and  that  by  advancing  hastily  he 
might  be  seen  and  alarm  them,  Captain  Lewis  sought 
an  elevated  situation  near  the  creek,  had  a  fire  made 
of  willow  brush,  and  took  breakfast.  At  the  same 
time  he  prepared  a  small  assortment  of  beads,  trin- 
kets, awls,  some  paint  and  a  looking  glass,  and  placed 
them  on  a  pole  near  the  fire,  in  order  that  if  the  In- 
dians returned  they  might  discover  that  the  party 
were  white  men  and  friends.  Whilst  making  these 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          65 

preparations  a  very  heavy  shower  of  rain  and  hail 
came  on,  and  wet  them  to  the  skin ;  in  about  twenty 
minutes  it  was  over,  and  Captain  Lewis  then  re- 
newed his  pursuit,  but  as  the  rain  had  made  the  grass 
which  the  horse  had  trodden  down  rise  again,  his 
track  could  with  difficulty  be  distinguished.  As  they 
went  along  they  passed  several  places  where  the  In- 
dians seemed  to  have  been  digging  roots  to-day,  and 
saw  the  fresh  track  of  eight  or  ten  horses,  but  they 
had  been  wandering  about  in  so  confused  a  manner 
that  he  could  not  discern  any  particular  path,  and  at 
last,  after  pursuing  it  about  four  miles  along  the 
valley  to  the  left  under  the  foot  of  the  hills,  he  lost 
the  track  of  the  fugitive  Indian.  Near  the  head  of 
the  valley  they  had  passed  a  large  bog  covered  with 
moss  and  tall  grass,  among  which  were  several 
springs  of  pure  cold  water ;  they  now  turned  a  little 
to  the  left  along  the  foot  of  the  high  hills,  and 
reached  a  small  creek  where  they  encamped  for  the 
night,  having  made  about  twenty  miles,  though  not 
more  than  ten  in  a  direct  line  from  their  camp  of  last 
evening." 

Of  the  history  of  the  Shoshone  tribe,  which  the 
Expedition  leaders  were  now  in  search  of,  we  get  in 
the  "  Journal "  an  interesting  account,  which  we 
here  subjoin: 

"  The  Shpshones  are  a  small  tribe  of  the  nation 
called  Snake  Indians,  a  vague  denomination,  which 
embraces  at  once  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern 
parts  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  of  the  plains  on 
each  side.  The  Shoshones  with  whom  we  now  are, 
amount  to  about  one  hundred  warriors,  and  three 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V.  — 5 


66  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

times  that  number  of  women  and  children.  Within 
their  own  recollection  they  formerly  lived  in  the 
plains,  but  they  have  been  driven  into  the  mountains 
by  the  Pawkees,  or  the  roving  Indians  of  the  Sas- 
catchawain  (Saskatchewan),  and  are  now  obliged 
to  visit  occasionally,  and  by  stealth,  the  country  of 
their  ancestors.  Their  lives  are  indeed  migratory. 
From  the  middle  of  May  to  the  beginning  of  Septem- 
ber, they  reside  on  the  waters  of  the  Columbia,  where 
they  consider  themselves  perfectly  secure  from  the 
Pawkees  who  have  never  yet  found  their  way  to  that 
retreat.  During  this  time  they  subsist  chiefly  on 
salmon,  and  as  that  fish  disappears  on  the  approach 
of  autumn,  they  are  obliged  to  seek  subsistence  else- 
where. They  then  cross  the  ridge  to  the  waters  of  the 
Missouri,  down  which  they  proceed  slowly  and  cau- 
tiously, till  they  are  joined  near  the  three  forks  by 
other  bands,  either  of  their  own  nation  or  of  the 
Flatheads,  with  whom  they  associate  against  the 
common  enemy.  Being  now  strong  in  numbers,  they 
venture  to  hunt  buffalo  in  the  plains  eastward  of  the 
mountains,  near  which  they  spend  the  winter,  till  the 
return  of  the  salmon  invites  them  to  the  Columbia. 
But  such  is  their  terror  of  the  Pawkees,  that  as  long 
as  they  can  obtain  the  scantiest  subsistence,  they  do 
not  leave  the  interior  of  the  mountains ;  and  as  soon 
as  they  collect  a  large  stock  of  dried  meat,  they  again 
retreat,  and  thus  alternately  obtaining  their  food  at 
the  hazard  of  their  lives,  and  hiding  themselves  to 
consume  it.  In  this  loose  and  wandering  existence 
they  suffer  the  extremes  of  want;  for  two-thirds  of 
the  year  they  are  forced  to  live  in  the  mountains, 


THE  LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION         67 

passing  whole  weeks  without  meat,  and  with  nothing 
to  eat  but  a  few  fish  and  roots.  Nor  can  anything 
be  imagined  more  wretched  than  their  condition  at 
the  present  time,  when  the  salmon  is  fast  retiring, 
when  roots  are  becoming  scarce,  and  they  have  not 
yet  acquired  strength  to  hazard  an  encounter  with 
their  enemies. 

"  So  insensible  are  they  however  to  these  calami- 
ties, that  the  Shoshones  are  not  only  cheerful  but 
even  gay;  and  their  character,  which  is  more  inter- 
esting than  that  of  any  Indians  we  have  seen,  has  in 
it  much  of  the  dignity  of  misfortune.  In  their  inter- 
course with  strangers  they  are  frank  and  communica- 
tive, in  their  dealings  perfectly  fair,  nor  have  we  had 
during  our  stay  with  them,  any  reason  to  suspect  that 
the  display  of  all  our  new  and  valuable  wealth  has 
tempted  them  into  a  single  act  of  dishonesty.  While 
they  have  generally  shared  with  us  the  little  they 
possess,  they  have  always  abstained  from  begging 
anything  from  us.  With  their  liveliness  of  temper, 
they  are  fond  of  gaudy  dresses,  and  of  all  sorts  of 
amusements,  particularly  games  of  hazard;  and 
like  most  Indians  fond  of  boasting  of  their  own  war- 
like exploits,  whether  real  or  fictitious.  In  their  con- 
duct towards  ourselves,  they  were  kind  and  obliging, 
and  though. on  one  occasion  they  seemed  willing  to 
neglect  us,  yet  we  scarcely  knew  how  to  blame  the 
treatment  by  which  we  suffered,  when  we  recollected 
how  few  civilized  chiefs  would  have  hazarded  the 
comforts  or  the  subsistence  of  their  people  for  the 
sake  of  a  few  strangers.  This  manliness  of  char- 
acter may  cause  or  it  may  be  formed  by  the  nature  of 


68  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

their  government,  which  is  perfectly  free  from  any 
restraint.  Each  individual  is  his  own  master,  and 
the  only  control  to  which  his  conduct  is  subjected,  is 
the  advice  of  a  chief  supported  by  his  influence  over 
the  opinions  of  the  rest  of  the  tribe.  The  chief  him- 
self is  in  fact  no  more  than  the  most  confidential 
person  among  the  warriors,  a  rank  neither  distin- 
guished by  any  external  honor,  nor  invested  by  any 
ceremony,  but  gradually  acquired  from  the  good 
wishes  of  his  companions  and  by  superior  merit. 
Such  an  officer  has  therefore  strictly  no  power;  he 
may  recommend  or  advise  or  influence,  but  his  com- 
mands have  no  effect  on  those  who  incline  to  dis- 
obey, and  who  may  at  any  time  withdraw  from  their 
voluntary  allegiance.  His  shadowy  authority  which 
cannot  survive  the  confidence  which  supports  it,  often 
decays  with  the  personal  vigor  of  the  chief,  or  is 
transferred  to  some  more  fortunate  or  favorite  hero. 
"  In  their  domestic  economy,  the  man  is  equally 
sovereign.  The  man  is  the  sole  proprietor  of  his 
wives  and  daughters,  and  can  barter  them  away,  or 
dispose  of  them  in  any  manner  he  may  think  proper. 
The  children  are  seldom  corrected;  the  boys,  par- 
ticularly, soon  become  their  own  masters;  they  are 
never  whipped,  for  they  say  that  it  breaks  their  spirit, 
and  that  after  being  flogged  they  never  recover  their 
independence  of  mind,  even  when  they  grow  to  man- 
hood.  A  plurality  of  wives  is  very  common;  but 
these  are  not  generally  sisters,  as  among  the  Minne- 
tarees  and  Mandans,  but  are  purchased  of  different 
fathers.  The  infant  daughters  are  often  betrothed 
by  the  father  to  men  who  are  grown,  either  for  them- 


THE  LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION         69 

selves  or  for  their  sons,  for  whom  they  are  desirous 
of  providing  wives.  The  compensation  to  the 
father  is  usually  made  in  horses  or  mules;  and  the 
girl  remains  with  her  parents  till  the  age  of  puberty, 
which  is  thirteen  or  fourteen,  when  she  is  surren- 
dered to  her  husband.  At  the  same  time  the  father 
often  makes  a  present  to  the  husband  equal  to  what 
he  had  formerly  received  as  the  price  of  his  daugh- 
ter, though  this  return  is  optional  with  her  parent. 
Sacajawea  had  been  contracted  in  this  way  before 
she  was  taken  prisoner,  and  when  we  brought  her 
back,  her  betrothed  was  still  living.  Although  he 
was  double  the  age  of  Sacajawea,  and  had  two  other 
wives,  he  claimed  her,  but  on  finding  that  she  had  a 
child  by  her  new  husband,  Chaboneau,  he  relin- 
quished his  pretensions  and  said  he  did  not  want  her. 
"  The  chastity  of  the  women  does  not  appear  to 
be  held  in  much  estimation.  The  husband  will  for 
a  trifling  present  lend  his  wife  for  a  night  to  a 
stranger,  and  the  loan  may  be  protracted  by  increas- 
ing the  value  of  the  present.  Yet  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  notwithstanding  this  facility,  any  connection 
of  this  kind  not  authorized  by  the  husband,  is  con- 
sidered highly  offensive  and  quite  as  disgraceful  to 
his  character  as  the  same  licentiousness  in  civilized 
societies.  The  Shoshones  are  not  so  importunate  in 
volunteering  the  services  of  their  wives  as  we  found 
the  Sioux  were ;  and  indeed  we  observed  among  them 
some  women  who  appeared  to  be  held  in  more  respect 
than  those  of  any  nation  we  had  seen.  But  the  mass 
of  the  females  are  condemned,  as  among  all  savage 
nations,  to  the  lowest  and  most  laborious  drudgery. 


7O  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

When  the  tribe  is  stationary,  they  collect  the  roots, 
and  cook;  they  build  the  huts,  dress  the  skins  and 
make  clothing ;  collect  the  wood,  and  assist  in  taking 
care  of  the  horses  on  the  route ;  they  load  the  horses 
and  have  the  charge  of  all  the  baggage.  The  only 
business  of  the  man  is  to  fight ;  he  therefore  takes  on 
himself  the  care  of  his  horse,  the  companion  of  his 
warfare;  but  he  will  descend  to  no  other  labor  than 
to  hunt  and  to  fish.  He  would  consider  himself  de- 
graded by  being  compelled  to  walk  any  distance ;  and 
were  he  so  poor  as  to  possess  only  two  horses,  he 
would  ride  the  best  of  them,  and  leave  the  other  for 
his  wives  and  children  and  their  baggage ;  and  if  he 
has  too  many  wives  or  too  much  baggage  for  the 
horse,  the  wives  have  no  alternative  but  to  follow 
him  on  foot ;  they  are  not  however  often  reduced  to 
those  extremities,  for  their  stock  of  horses  is  very 
ample.  Notwithstanding  their  losses  this  Spring 
they  still  have  at  least  seven  hundred,  among  which 
are  about  forty  colts,  and  half  that  number  of  mules. 
There  are  no  horses  here  which  can  be  considered  as 
wild;  we  have  seen  two  only  on  this  side  of  the 
Musselshell  River  which  were  without  owners,  and 
even  those,  although  shy,  showed  every  mark  of  hav- 
ing been  once  in  the  possession  of  man.  The  original 
stock  was  procured  from  the  Spaniards,  but  they  now 
raise  their  own.  The  horses  are  generally  very  fine, 
of  a  good  size,  vigorous  and  patient  of  fatigue  as 
well  as  hunger.  Each  warrior  has  one  or  two  tied  to 
a  stake  near  his  hut  both  day  and  night,  so  as  to  be 
always  prepared  for  action.  The  mules  are  obtained 
in  the  course  of  trade  from  the  Spaniards,  with 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          7 1 

whose  brands  several  of  them  are  marked,  or  stolen 
from  them  by  the  frontier  Indians.  They  are  the 
finest  animals  of  that  kind  we  have  ever  seen,  and 
at  this  distance  from  the  Spanish  colonies  are  very 
highly  valued.  The  worst  are  considered  as  worth 
the  price  of  two  horses,  and  a  good  mule  cannot  be 
obtained  for  less  than  three  and  sometimes  four 
horses." 


CHAPTER  VII 


AMONG  THE  SHOSHONES,  OR  SNAKE  INDIANS 

PURSUING  his  search  for  the  Shoshones  and  their 
villages,  Captain  Lewis,  accompanied  by  the  two 
active  members  of  the  Expedition  (Drewyer  and 
Shields),  was  fortunate  enough,  on  the  i3th  of  Au- 
gust, to  meet  with  two  Indian  women,  a  brave,  and 
several  dogs  belonging  to  the  tribe.  Here  is  the 
account  supplied  in  the  "  Journal  "  of  the  rencontre : 

"  They  proceeded  along  a  waving  plain  parallel 
to  this  valley  for  about  four  miles,  when  they  dis- 
covered two  women,  a  man  and  some  dogs  on  an 
eminence  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  before  them. 
The  strangers  first  viewed  them  apparently  with 
much  attention  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  two  of 
them  sat  down  as  if  to  await  Captain  Lewis's  arrival. 
He  went  on  till  he  reached  within  about  half  a  mile, 
then  ordered  his  party  to  stop,  put  down  his  knap- 
sack and  rifle,  and  unfurling  the  flag  advanced  alone 
towards  the  Indians.  The  females  soon  retreated 
behind  the  hill,  but  the  man  remained  till  Captain 
Lewis  came  within  a  hundred  yards  from  him,  when 
he  too  went  off,  though  Captain  Lewis  called  out 
tabba  bone!  loud  enough  to  be  heard  distinctly.  He 
hastened  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  but  they  had  all  dis- 

72 


THE   LEWIS  AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION          73 

appeared.  The  dogs  however  were  less  shy,  and 
came  close  to  him ;  he  therefore  thought  of  tying  a 
handkerchief  with  some  beads  round  their  necks,  and 
then  let  them  loose  to  convince  the  fugitives  of  his 
friendly  disposition,  but  they  would  not  suffer  him 
to  take  hold  of  them,  and  soon  left  him.  He  now 
made  a  signal  to  the  men,  who  joined  him,  and 
then  all  followed  the  track  of  the  Indians,  which  led 
along  a  continuation  of  the  same  road  they  had  been 
already  travelling.  It  was  dusty  and  seemed  to 
have  been  much  used  lately  both  by  foot  passengers 
and  horsemen.  They  had  not  gone  along  it  more 
than  a  mile  when  on  a  sudden  they  saw  three  female 
Indians,  from  whom  they  had  been  concealed  by  the 
deep  ravines  which  intersected  the  road,  till  they 
were  now  within  thirty  paces  of  each  other ;  one  of 
them,  a  young  woman,  immediately  took  to  flight, 
the  other  two,  an  elderly  woman  and  a  little  girl, 
seeing  we  were  too  near  for  them  to  escape,  sat  on 
the  ground,  and  holding  down  their  heads  seemed 
as  if  reconciled  to  the  death  which  they  supposed 
awaited  them.  The  same  habit  of  holding  down  the 
head  and  inviting  the  enemy  to  strike,  when  all 
chance  of  escape  is  gone,  is  preserved  in  Egypt  to 
this  day.  Captain  Lewis  instantly  put  down  his 
rifle,  and  advancing  towards  them,  took  the  woman 
by  the  hand,  raised  her  up,  and  repeated  the  words 
tabba  bone!  at  the  same  time  stripping  up  his  shirt 
sleeve  to  prove  that  he  was  a  white  man,  for  his 
hands  and  face  had  become  by  constant  exposure 
quite  as  dark  as  their  own.  She  appeared  imme- 
diately relieved  from  her  alarm,  and  Drewyer  and 


74  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

Shields  now  coming  up,  Captain  Lewis  gave  them 
some  beads,  a  few  awls,  pewter  mirrors,  and  a  little 
paint,  and  told  Drewyer  to  request  the  woman  to 
recall  her  companion  who  had  escaped  to  some  dis- 
tance, and  by  alarming  the  Indians  might  cause 
them  to  attack  him  without  any  time  for  explana- 
tion. She  did  as  she  was  desired,  and  the  young 
woman  returned  almost  out  of  breath.  Captain 
Lewis  gave  her  an  equal  portion  of  trinkets,  and 
painted  the  tawny  cheeks  of  all  three  of  them  with 
vermillion,  a  ceremony  which  among  the  Shoshones 
is  emblematic  of  peace. 

"  After  they  had  become  composed,  he  informed 
them  by  signs  of  his  wish  to  go  to  their  camp  in  order 
to  see  their  chiefs  and  warriors ;  they  readily  obeyed, 
and  conducted  the  party  along  the  same  road  down 
the  river.  In  this  way  they  marched  two  miles,  when 
they  met  a  troop  of  nearly  sixty  warriors  mounted 
on  excellent  horses  riding  at  full  speed  towards 
them.  As  they  advanced,  Captain  Lewis  put  down 
his  gun,  and  went  with  the  flag  about  fifty  paces  in 
advance.  The  chief,  who  with  two  men  were  riding 
in  front  of  the  main  body,  spoke  to  the  women,  who 
now  explained  that  the  party  was  composed  of  white 
men,  and  showed  exultingly  the  presents  they  had 
received.  The  three  men  immediately  leaped  from 
their  horses,  came  up  to  Captain  Lewis  and  em- 
braced him  with  great  cordiality,  putting  their  left 
arm  over  his  right  shoulder  and  clasping  his  back, 
applying  at  the  same  time  their  left  cheek  to  his,  and 
frequently  vociferating  ah  hi  e !  ah  hi  e !  *  I  am 
much  pleased,  I  am  much  rejoiced/  The  whole 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          75 

body  of  warriors  now  came  forward,  and  our  men 
received  the  caresses,  and  no  small  share  of  the 
grease  and  paint,  of  their  new  friends.  After  this 
fraternal  embrace,  of  which  the  motive  was  much 
more  agreeable  than  the  manner,  Captain  Lewis 
lighted  a  pipe  and  offered  it  to  the  Indians  who  had 
now  seated  themselves  in  a  circle  around  the  party. 
But  before  they  would  receive  this  mark  of  friend- 
ship they  pulled  off  their  moccasins,  a  custom,  as  we 
afterwards  learnt,  which  indicates  the  sacred  sin- 
cerity of  their  professions  when  they  smoke  with  a 
stranger,  and  which  imprecates  on  themselves  the 
misery  of  going  barefoot  forever  if  they  are  faith- 
less to  their  words,  a  penalty  by  no  means  light  to 
those  who  rove  over  the  thorny  plains  of  their 
country. 

"  After  smoking  a  few  pipes,  some  trifling  pres- 
ents were  distributed  amongst  them,  with  which  they 
seemed  very  much  pleased,  particularly  with  the  blue 
beads  and  the  vermillion.  Captain  Lewis  then  in- 
formed the  chief  that  the  object  of  his  visit  was 
friendly,  and  should  be  explained  as  soon  as  he 
reached  their  camp ;  but  that  in  the  meantime  as  the 
sun  was  oppressive,  and  no  water  near,  he  wished 
to  go  there  as  soon  as  possible.  They  now  put  on 
their  moccasins,  and  their  chief,  whose  name  was 
Cameahwait,  made  a  short  speech  to  the  warriors. 
Captain  Lewis  then  gave  him  the  flag,  which  he 
informed  him  was  among  white  men  the  emblem  of 
peace,  and  now  that  he  had  received  it  was  to  be  in 
future  the  bond  of  union  between  them.  The  chief 
then  moved  on,  our  party  followed  him,  and  the  rest 


76  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  warriors  in  a  squadron,  brought  up  the  rear. 
After  marching  a  mile  they  were  halted  by  the  chief, 
who  made  a  second  harangue,  on  which  six  or  eight 
young  men  rode  forward  to  their  camp,  and  no  fur- 
ther regularity  was  observed  in  the  order  of  march. 
At  the  distance  of  four  miles  from  where  they  had 
first  met,  they  reached  the  Indian  camp,  which  was 
in  a  handsome  level  meadow  on  the  bank  of  the 
river.  Here  they  were  introduced  into  an  old  leath- 
ern lodge  which  the  young  men  who  had  been  sent 
from  the  party  had  fitted  up  for  their  reception. 
After  being  seated  on  green  boughs  and  antelope 
skins,  one  of  the  warriors  pulled  up  the  grass  in  the 
centre  of  the  lodge  so  as  to  form  a  vacant  circle  of 
two  feet  diameter,  in  which  he  kindled  a  fire.  The 
chief  then  produced  his  pipe  and  tobacco,  the  war- 
riors all  pulled  off  their  moccasins,  and  our  party 
was  requested  to  take  off  their  own.  This  being 
done,  the  chief  lighted  his  pipe  at  the  fire  within  the 
magic  circle,  and  then  retreating  from  it  began  a 
speech  several  minutes  long,  at  the  end  of  which  he 
pointed  the  stem  towards  the  four  cardinal  points 
of  the  heavens,  beginning  with  the  east  and  conclud- 
ing with  the  north.  After  this  ceremony  he  pre- 
sented the  stem  in  the  same  way  to  Captain  Lewis, 
who  supposing  it  an  invitation  to  smoke,  put  out 
his  hand  to  receive  the  pipe,  but  the  chief  drew  it 
back,  and  continued  to  repeat  the  same  offer  three 
times,  after  which  he  pointed  the  stem  first  to  the 
heavens,  then  to  the  centre  of  the  little  circle,  took 
three  whiffs  himself,  and  presented  it  again  to  Cap- 
tain Lewis.  Finding  that  this  last  offer  was  in  good 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION          77 

earnest,  he  smoked  a  little,  the  pipe  was  then  held 
to  each  of  the  white  men,  and  after  they  had  taken  a 
few  whiffs  was  given  to  the  warriors.  The  cere- 
mony of  smoking  being  concluded,  Captain  Lewis 
explained  to  the  chief  the  purposes  of  his  visit,  and 
as  by  this  time  all  the  women  and  children  of  the 
camp  had  gathered  around  the  lodge  to  indulge  in  a 
view  of  the  first  white  men  they  had  ever  seen,  he 
distributed  among  them  the  remainder  of  the  small 
articles  he  had  brought  with  him.  It  was  now  late 
in  the  afternoon,  and  our  party  had  tasted  no  food 
since  the  night  before.  On  apprising  the  chief  of 
this  circumstance,  he  said  that  he  had  nothing  but 
berries  to  eat,  and  presented  some  cakes  made  of 
serviceberry  and  chokecherries  which  had  been  dried 
in  the  sun.  On  these  Captain  Lewis  made  a  hearty 
meal,  and  then  walked  down  towards  the  river;  he 
found  it  a  rapid  clear  stream  forty  yards  wide  and 
three  feet  deep ;  the  banks  were  low  and  abrupt,  like 
those  of  the  upper  part  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  bed 
formed  of  loose  stones  and  gravel.  Its  course,  as 
far  as  he  could  observe,  was  a  little  to  the  north  of 
west,  and  was  bounded  on  each  side  by  a  range  of 
high  mountains,  of  which  those  on  the  east  are  the 
lowest  and  most  distant  from  the  river. 

"  The  chief  informed  him  that  this  stream  dis- 
charged itself  at  the  distance  of  half-a-day's  march, 
into  another  of  twice  its  size,  coming  from  the  south- 
west; but  added,  on  further  inquiry,  that  there  was 
scarcely  more  timber  below  the  junction  of  those 
rivers  than  in  this  neighborhood,  and  that  the  river 
was  rocky,  rapid,  and  so  closely  confined  between 


78  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

high  mountains,  that  it  was  impossible  to  pass  down 
it,  either  by  land  or  water  to  the  great  lake,  where 
as  he  had  understood  the  white  men  lived.  This  in- 
formation was  far  from  being  satisfactory ;  for  there 
was  no  timber  here  that  would  answer  the  purpose 
of  building  canoes,  indeed  not  more  than  just  suffi- 
cient for  fuel,  and  even  that  consisted  of  the  narrow- 
leafed  cottonwood,  the  red  and  the  narrow-leafed 
willow,  the  chokecherry,  serviceberry  and  a  few  cur- 
rant bushes  such  as  are  common  on  the  Missouri. 
The  prospect  of  going  on  by  land  is  more  pleasant; 
for  there  are  great  numbers  of  horses  feeding  in 
every  direction  round  the  camp,  which  will  enable 
us  to  transport  our  stores  if  necessary  over  the  moun- 
tains. Captain  Lewis  returned  from  the  river  to 
his  lodge,  and  on  his  way  an  Indian  invited  him  into 
his  bower  and  gave  him  a  small  morsel  of  boiled 
antelope  and  a  piece  of  fresh  salmon  roasted.  This 
was  the  first  salmon  he  had  seen,  and  perfectly  sat- 
isfied him  that  he  was  now  on  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific." 

By  this  time,  news  of  the  coming  of  the  whites 
among  the  Shoshones  had  reached  the  latter's  camp 
and  all  were  agog  with  excitement.  At  first,  it  had 
been  thought  that  the  arriving  Expedition  was  an 
Indian  one,  consisting  of  the  old  foes  of  the  tribe, 
the  Minnetarees.  They  were  consequently  much 
alarmed,  though  when  afterward  assured  of  the  fact 
that  the  newcomers  were  whites,  their  delight  was 
as  great  as  was  their  curiosity  to  see  them.  Says 
the  "  Journal  "  at  this  period  (August  17),  in  relat- 
ing the  account  of  the  meeting  and  the  affecting 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          ?9 

interview  of  Sacajawea  with  the  members  of  her 
people : 

"  The  Indians  were  all  transported  with  joy,  and 
the  chief  in  the  warmth  of  his  satisfaction  renewed 
his  embrace  to  Captain  Lewis,  who  was  quite  as 
much  delighted  as  the  Indians  themselves;  the  re- 
port proved  most  agreeably  true.  On  setting  out 
at  seven  o'clock,  Captain  Lewis  with  Chaboneau  and 
his  wife  walked  on  shore,  but  they  had  not  gone 
more  than  a  mile  before  Captain  Clark  saw  Saca- 
jawea, who  was  with  her  husband  one  hundred  yards 
ahead,  begin  to  dance  and  show  every  mark  of  the 
most  extravagant  joy,  turning  round  him  and  point- 
ing to  several  Indians,  whom  he  now  saw  advancing 
on  horseback,  sucking  her  fingers  at  the  same  time 
to  indicate  that  they  were  of  her  native  tribe.  As 
they  advanced  Captain  Clark  discovered  among 
them  Drewyer  dressed  like  an  Indian,  from  whom 
he  learned  the  situation  of  the  party.  While  the 
boats  were  performing  the  circuit,  he  went  towards 
the  forks  with  the  Indians,  who,  as  they  went  along, 
sang  aloud  with  the  greatest  appearance  of  delight. 
We  soon  drew  near  to  the  camp,  and  just  as  we 
approached  it  a  woman  made  her  way  through  the 
crowd  towards  Sacajawea,  and,  recognising  each 
other,  they  embraced  with  the  most  tender  affection. 
The  meeting  of  these  two  young  women  had  in  it 
something  peculiarly  touching,  not  only  in  the  ardent 
manner  in  which  their  feelings  were  expressed,  but 
from  the  real  interest  of  their  situation.  They  had 
been  companions  in  childhood,  in  the  war  with  the 
Minnetarees  they  had  both  been  taken  prisoners  in 


80  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  same  battle,  they  had  shared  and  softened  the 
rigors  of  their  captivity,  till  one  of  them  had 
escaped  from  the  Minnetarees,  with  scarce  a  hope  of 
ever  seeing  her  friend  relieved  from  the  hands  of  her 
enemies. 

"  While  Sacajawea  was  renewing  among  the 
women  the  friendships  of  former  days,  Captain 
Clark  went  on  and  was  received  by  Captain  Lewis 
and  the  chief,  who,  after  the  first  embraces  and  salu- 
tations were  over,  conducted  him  to  a  sort  of  cir- 
cular tent  or  shade  of  willows.  Here  he  was  seated 
on  a  white  robe;  and  the  chief  immediately  tied  in 
his  hair  six  small  shells  resembling  pearls,  an  orna- 
ment highly  valued  by  these  people,  who  procured 
them  in  the  course  of  trade  from  the  seacoast.  The 
moccasins  of  the  whole  party  were  then  taken  off, 
and  after  much  ceremony  the  smoking  began.  After 
this  the  conference  was  to  be  opened,  and  glad  of  an 
opportunity  of  being  able  to  converse  more  intel- 
ligibly, Sacajawea  was  sent  for;  she  came  into  the 
tent,  sat  down,  and  was  beginniing  to  interpret, 
when  in  the  person  of  Cameahwait  she  recognized 
her  brother:  she  instantly  jumped  up,  and  ran  and 
embraced  him,  throwing  over  him  her  blanket  and 
weeping  profusely;  the  chief  was  himself  moved, 
though  not  in  the  same  degree.  After  some  con- 
versation between  them  she  resumed  her  seat,  and 
attempted  to  interpret  for  us,  but  her  new  situation 
seemed  to  overpower  her,  and  she  was  frequently 
interrupted  by  her  tears.  After  the  council  was  fin- 
ished, the  unfortunate  woman  learnt  that  all  her 
family  were  dead  except  two  brothers,  one  of  whom 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION  8 1 

was  absent,  and  a  son  of  her  eldest  sister,  a  small 
boy,  who  was  immediately  adopted  by  her.  The 
canoes  arriving  soon  after,  we  formed  a  camp  in  a 
meadow  on  the  left  side,  a  little  below  the  forks; 
took  out  our  baggage,  and  by  means  of  our  sails  and 
willow  poles  formed  a  canopy  for  our  Indian 
visitors.  About  four  o'clock  the  chiefs  and  war- 
riors were  collected,  and  after  the  customary  cere- 
mony of  taking  off  the  moccasins  and  smoking  a 
pipe,  we  explained  to  them  in  a  long  harangue  the 
purposes  of  our  visit,  making  themselves  one  con- 
spicuous object  of  the  good  wishes  of  our  Govern- 
ment, on  whose  strength  as  well  as  its  friendly  dis- 
position we  expatiated.  We  told  them  of  their  de- 
pendence on  the  will  of  our  Government  for  all  future 
supplies  of  whatever  was  necessary  either  for  their 
comfort  or  defense ;  that  as  we  were  sent  to  discover 
the  best  route  by  which  merchandise  could  be  con- 
veyed to  them,  and  no  trade  would  be  begun  before 
our  return,  it  was  mutually  advantageous  that  we 
should  proceed  with  as  little  delay  as  possible;  that 
we  were  under  the  necessity  of  requesting  them  to 
furnish  us  with  horses  to  transport  our  baggage 
across  the  mountains,  and  a  guide  to  show  us  the 
route,  but  that  they  should  be  amply  remunerated 
for  their  horses,  as  well  as  for  every  other  service 
they  should  render  us.  In  the  meantime  our  first 
wish  was,  that  they  should  immediately  collect  as 
many  horses  as  were  necessary  to  transport  our  bag- 
gage to  their  village,  where,  at  our  leisure  we  would 
trade  with  them  for  as  many  horses  as  they  could 
spare. 

A.  B.,  VOL.  v.— 6 


82  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

"  The  speech  made  a  favorable  impression ;  the 
chief  in  reply  thanked  us  for  our  expressions  of 
friendship  towards  himself  and  his  nation,  and  de- 
clared their  willingness  to  render  us  every  service. 
He  lamented  that  it  would  be  so  long  before  they 
should  be  supplied  with  firearms,  but  that  till  then 
they  could  subsist  as  they  had  heretofore  done.  He 
concluded  by  saying  that  there  were  not  horses  here 
sufficient  to  transport  our  goods,  but  that  he  would 
return  to  the  village  to-morrow,  and  bring  all  his 
own  horses,  and  encourage  his  people  to  come  over 
with  theirs.  The  conference  being  ended  to  our  sat- 
isfaction, we  now  enquired  of  Cameahwait  what 
chiefs  were  among  the  party,  and  he  pointed  out  two 
of  them.  We  then  distributed  our  presents;  to 
Cameahwait  we  gave  a  medal  of  the  small  size,  with 
the  likeness  of  President  Jefferson,  and  on  the  re- 
verse a  figure  of  hands  clasped  with  a  pipe  and  toma- 
hawk; to  this  was  added  a  uniform  coat,  a  shirt,  a 
pair  of  scarlet  leggings,  a  carrot  of  tobacco,  and 
some  small  articles.  Each  of  the  other  chiefs  re- 
ceived a  small  medal  struck  during  the  presidency 
of  General  Washington,  a  shirt,  handkerchief,  leg- 
gings, a  knife,  and  some  tobacco.  Medals  of  the 
same  sort  were  also  presented  to  two  young  war- 
riors, who  though  not  chiefs  were  promising  youths 
and  very  much  respected  in  the  tribe.  These  hon- 
orary gifts  were  followed  by  presents  of  paint,  moc- 
casins, awls,  knives,  beads  and  looking-glasses.  We 
also  gave  them  all  a  plentiful  meal  of  Indian  corn, 
of  which  the  hull  is  taken  off  by  being  boiled  in  lye ; 
and  as  this  was  the  first  they  had  ever  tasted,  they 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          83 

were  very  much  pleased  with  it.  They  had  indeed 
abundant  sources  of  surprise  in  all  they  saw;  the 
appearance  of  the  men,  their  arms,  their  clothing, 
the  canoes,  the  strange  looks  of  the  negro,  and  the 
sagacity  of  our  dog,  all  in  turn  shared  their  admira- 
tion, which  was  raised  to  astonishment  by  a  shot 
from  the  air-gun;  this  operation  was  instantly  con- 
sidered as  a  great  medicine,  by  which  they  as  well  as 
the  other  Indians  mean  something  emanating  direct- 
ly from  the  Great  Spirit,  or  produced  by  his  invisible 
and  incomprehensible  agency.  The  display  of  all 
these  riches  had  been  intermixed  with  inquiries  into 
the  geographical  situation  of  their  country;  for  we 
had  learnt  by  experience  that  to  keep  the  savages 
in  good  temper  their  attention  should  not  be  wearied 
with  too  much  business ;  but  that  the  serious  affairs 
should  be  enlivened  by  a  mixture  of  what  is  new  and 
entertaining.  Our  hunters  brought  in  very  season- 
ably four  deer  and  an  antelope,  the  last  of  which  we 
gave  to  the  Indians,  who  in  a  very  short  time  de- 
voured it.  After  the  council  was  over,  we  consulted 
as  to  our  future  operations.  The  game  does  not 
promise  to  last  here  for  a  number  of  days,  and  this 
circumstance  combined  with  many  others  to  induce 
our  going  on  as  soon  as  possible.  Our  Indian  infor- 
mation as  to  the  state  of  the  Columbia  is  of  a  very 
alarming  kind,  and  our  first  object  is  of  course  to 
ascertain  the  practicability  of  descending  it,  of 
which  the  Indians  discourage  our  expectations.  It 
was  therefore  agreed  that  Captain  Clark  should  set 
off  in  the  morning  with  eleven  men,  furnished,  be- 
sides their  arms,  with  tools  for  making  canoes ;  that 


84  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

he  should  take  Chaboneau  and  his  wife  to  the  camp 
of  the  Shoshones,  where  he  was  to  leave  them,  in 
order  to  hasten  the  collection  of  horses ;  that  he  was 
then  to  lead  his  men  down  to  the  Columbia,  and  if 
he  found  it  navigable,  and  the  timber  in  sufficient 
quantity,  begin  to  build  canoes.  As  soon  as  he  had 
decided  as  to  the  propriety  of  proceeding  down  the 
Columbia  or  across  the  mountains,  he  was  to  send 
back  one  of  the  men  with  information  of  it  to  Cap- 
tain Lewis,  who  by  that  time  would  have  brought 
up  the  whole  party,  and  the  rest  of  the  baggage  as 
far  as  the  Shoshone  village.  Preparations  were 
accordingly  made  this  evening  for  such  an  arrange- 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ACROSS  THE  ROCKIES   TO   THE  TRIBUTARIES   OF   THE 
COLUMBIA 

HAVING  reached,  in  the  Shoshone  country,  the  ex- 
treme navigable  part  of  the  Missouri,  the  anxiety  of 
the  Expedition  commanders  now  was  how  best  to  get 
across  the  Rockies  and  meet  some  of  the  tributaries 
of  the  Columbia  that  would  conduct  the  party  to  that 
river,  thence  down  its  waters  to  the  Western  Sea. 
Chats  over  the  matter  with  the  friendly  Shoshones 
were  not  reassuring,  for  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe  spoke 
alarmingly  of  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  by 
the  way,  and  of  the  certain  dearth  of  food  supplies 
en  route;  while  they  deemed  the  season,  compara- 
tively early  as  it  yet  was,  too  far  advanced  to  permit 
of  the  party  getting  across  the  mountains  before 
snow  fell  and  blocked  or  seriously  delayed  the  pas- 
sage. There  was,  it  is  true,  the  alternative  of  a 
water  passage  for  the  party  to  the  Columbia,  but 
that,  the  Shoshones  said,  was  not  only  tedious  and 
circuitous,  but  well  nigh  impracticable,  owing  to  the 
wild  canons  on  the  Lemhi  and  the  Salmon  Rivers 
and  the  turbulent  channel  of  the  Snake  River,  terrors 
which  usually  appalled  even  the  hardiest  boatmen- 
adventurers.  There  was  nothing  therefore  for  it  but 

85 


86  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  trail  over  the  Rockies,  if  the  Expedition  would 
risk  the  snow-blockades  and  the  scarcity  of  game 
and  other  food  supplies  on  the  way.  What  were  the 
difficulties  that  lay  before  the  party  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  following  extracts  from  the  "  Journal," 
which  narrate  the  efforts  made  by  Captain  Clark  to 
ascertain  the  best  course  the  Expedition  should  pur- 
sue in  getting  across  the  Great  Divide.  The  tenta- 
tive exploration  was  conducted  with  the  aid  of  a 
guide,  then  visiting  the  Shoshone  camp,  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  familiar  with  the  region  and  the  diffi- 
culties that  must  beset  any  party  in  getting  across 
the  Rockies  to  the  Pacific  Slope  and  the  available 
waterways  to  the  Western  Sea. 

"  Captain  Clark,  in  the  meantime,  made  particular 
inquiries  as  to  the  situation  of  the  country,  and  the 
possibility  of  soon  reaching  a  navigable  water.  The 
chief  began  by  drawing  on  the  ground  a  delineation 
of  the  rivers,  from  which  it  appeared  that  his  infor- 
mation was  very  limited.  The  river  on  which  the 
camp  is  he  divided  into  two  branches  just  above  us, 
which,  as  he  indicated  by  the  opening  of  the  moun- 
tains, were  in  view ;  he  next  made  it  discharge  itself 
into  a  larger  river  ten  miles  below,  coming  from  the 
southwest;  the  joint  stream  continued  one  day's 
march  to  the  northwest,  and  then  inclined  to  the 
westward  for  two  days'  march  farther.  At  that 
place  he  placed  several  heaps  of  sand  on  each  side, 
which,  as  he  explained  them,  represented  vast  moun- 
tains of  rock  always  covered  with  snow,  in  passing 
through  which  the  river  was  so  completely  hemmed 
in  by  the  high  rocks  that  there  was  no  possibility  of 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          87 

travelling  along  the  shore;  that  the  bed  of  the  river 
was  obstructed  by  sharp-pointed  rocks,  and  such  its 
rapidity,  that  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  it  pre- 
sented a  perfect  column  of  foam.  The  mountains, 
he  said,  were  equally  inaccessible,  as  neither  man  nor 
horse  could  cross  them ;  that  such  being  the  state  of 
the  country  neither  he  nor  any  of  his  nation  had  ever 
attempted  to  go  beyond  the  mountains.  Cameahwait 
said  also  that  he  had  been  informed  by  the  Chopun- 
nish,  or  Pierced-nose  Indians,  who  reside  on  this 
river  wTest  of  the  mountains,  that  it  ran  a  great  way 
towards  the  setting  sun,  and  at  length  lost  itself  in  a 
great  lake  of  water  which  was  ill-tasted,  and  where 
the  white  men  lived. 

"  An  Indian  belonging  to  a  band  of  Shoshones 
who  live  to  the  southwest,  and  who  happened  to  be 
at  camp,  was  then  brought  in,  and  inquiries  made  of 
him  as  to  the  situation  of  the  country  in  that  direc- 
tion ;  this  he  described  in  terms  scarcely  less  terrible 
than  those  in  which  Cameahwait  had  represented  the 
west.  He  said  that  his  relations  lived  at  the  distance 
of  twenty  days'  march  from  this  place,  on  a  course 
a  little  to  the  west  of  south  and  not  far  from  the 
whites,  with  whom  they  traded  for  horses,  mules, 
cloth,  metal,  beads,  and  the  shells  here  worn  as  orna- 
ments, and  which  are  those  of  a  species  of  pearl  oys- 
ter. In  order  to  reach  his  country  we  should  be 
obliged  during  the  first  seven  days  to  climb  over  steep 
rocky  mountains  where  there  was  no  game,  and  we 
should  find  nothing  but  roots  for  subsistence.  Even 
for  these,  however,  we  should  be  obliged  to  contend 
with  a  fierce  warlike  people,  whom  he  called  the 


88  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

Broken-moccasins,  or  moccasins  with  holes,  who 
lived  like  bears  in  holes,  and  fed  on  roots  and  the 
flesh  of  such  horses  as  they  could  steal  or  plunder 
from  those  who  passed  through  the  mountains.  So 
rough  indeed  was  the  passage  that  the  feet  of  the 
horses  would  be  wounded  in  such  a  manner  that 
many  of  them  would  be  unable  to  proceed.  The  next 
part  of  the  route  was  for  ten  days  through  a  dry 
parched  desert  of  sand,  inhabited  by  no  animal  which 
wrould  supply  us  with  subsistence,  and  as  the  sun  had 
now  scorched  up  the  grass  and  dried  up  the  small 
pools  of  water  which  are  sometimes  scattered 
through  this  desert  in  the  Spring,  both  ourselves  and 
our  horses  would  perish  for  want  of  food  and  water. 
About  the  middle  of  this  plain  a  large  river  passes 
from  southeast  to  northwest,  which,  though  naviga- 
ble, afforded  neither  timber  nor  salmon.  Three  or 
four  days'  march  beyond  this  plain  his  relations1, 
lived,  in  a  country  tolerably  fertile  and  partially  cov- 
ered with  timber,  on  another  large  river  running  in 
the  same  direction  as  the  former;  that  this  last  dis- 
charges itself  into  a  third  large  river,  on  which  re- 
sided many  numerous  nations,  with  whom  his  own 
were  at  War,  but  whether  this  last  emptied  itself  into 
the  great  or  stinking  lake,  as  they  called  the  ocean, 
he  did  not  know ;  that  from  his  country  to  the  stink- 
ing lake  was  a  great  distance,  and  that  the  route  to 
it,  taken  by  such  of  his  relations  as  had  visited  it, 
was  up  the  river  on  which  they  lived,  and  over  to  that 
on  which  the  white  people  lived,  and  which  they 
knew  discharged  itself  into  the  ocean.  This  route 
he  advised  us  to  take,  but  added,  that  we  had  better 


THE    LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          89 

defer  the  journey  till  Spring,  when' he  would  him- 
self conduct  us. 

"  This  account  persuaded  us  that  the  streams  of 
which  he  spoke  were  southern  branches  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, heading  with  the  Rio  des  Apostolos,  and  Rio 
Colorado,  and  that  the  route  which  he  mentioned 
was  to  the  Gulf  of  California;  Captain  Clark  there- 
fore told  him  that  this  road  was  too  much  towards 
the  south  for  our  purpose,  and  then  requested  to 
know  if  there  was  no  route  on  the  left  of  the  river 
where  we  now  are,  by  which  we  might  intercept  it 
below  the  mountains;  but  he  knew  of  none  except 
that  through  the  barren  plains,  which  he  said  joined 
the  mountains  on  that  side,  and  through  which  it  was 
impossible  to  pass  at  this  season,  even  if  we  were 
fortunate  enough  to  escape  the  Broken-moccasin  In- 
dians. Captain  Clark  recompensed  the  Indian  by  a 
present  of  a  knife,  with  which  he  seemed  much  grati- 
fied, and  now  inquired  of  Cameahwait  by  what  route 
the  Pierced-nose  Indians,  who  he  said  lived  west  of 
the  mountains,  crossed  over  to  the  Missouri ;  this  he 
said  was  towards  the  north,  but  that  the  road  was  a 
very  bad  one;  that  during  the  passage  he  had  been 
told  they  suffered  excessively  from  hunger,  being 
obliged  to  subsist  for  many  days  on  berries  alone, 
there  being  no  game  in  that  part  of  the  mountains, 
which  were  broken  and  rocky,  and  so  thickly  covered 
with  timber  that  they  could  scarcely  pass.  Sur- 
rounded by  difficulties  as  all  the  other  routes  are,  this 
seems  to  be  the  most  practicable  of  all  the  passages 
by  land,  since,  if  the  Indians  can  pass  the  mountains 
with  their  women  and  children,  no  difficulties  which 


QO  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

they  could  encounter  could  be  formidable  to  us;  and 
if  the  Indians  below  the  mountains  are  so  numerous 
as  they  are  represented  to  be,  they  must  have  some 
means  of  subsistence  equally  within  our  power. 
They  tell  us  indeed  that  the  nations  to  the  westward 
subsist  principally  on  fish  and  roots,  and  that  their 
only  game  were  a  few  elk,  deer,  and  antelope,  there 
being  no  buffalo  west  of  the  mountain. 

"  The  first  inquiry,  however,  was  to  ascertain  the 
truth  of  their  information  relative  to  the  difficulty 
of  descending  the  river;  for  this  purpose  Captain 
Clark  set  out  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  ac- 
companied by  the  guide  and  all  his  men,  except  one, 
whom  he  left  with  orders  to  purchase  a  horse  and 
join  him  as  soon  as  possible.  At  the  distance  of  four 
miles  he  crossed  the  river,  and  eight  miles  from  the 
camp  halted  for  the  night  at  a  small  stream.  The 
road  which  he  followed  was  a  beaten  path  through  a 
wide  rich  meadow,  in  which  were  several  old  lodges. 
On  the  route  he  met  a  number  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  as  well  as  horses,  and  one  of  the  men  who 
appeared  to  possess  some  consideration  turned  back 
with  him,  and  observing  a  woman  with  three  salmon 
obtained  them  from  her,  and  presented  them  to  the 
party.  Captain  Clark  shot  a  mountain  cock  or  cock 
of  the  plains,  a  dark  brown  bird  larger  than  the 
dunghill  fowl,  with  a  long  and  pointed  tail,  and  a 
fleshy  protuberance  about  the  base  of  the  upper  chop, 
something  like  that  of  the  turkey,  though  without  the 
snout.  In  the  morning, 

"  August  21,  he  resumed  his  march  early,  and  at 
the  distance  of  five  miles  reached  an  Indian  lodge  of 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          9! 

brush,  inhabited  by  seven  families  of  Shoshones. 
They  behaved  with  great  civility,  gave  the  whole 
party  as  much  boiled  salmon  as  they  could  eat,  and 
added  as  a  present  several  dried  salmon  and  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  choke-berries.  After  smoking 
with  them  all,  he  visited  the  fish  weir,  which  was 
about  two  hundred  yards  distant ;  the  river  was  here 
divided  by  three  small  islands,  which  occasioned  the 
water  to  pass  along  four  channels.  Of  these  three 
were  narrow,  and  stopped  by  means  of  trees  which 
were  stretched  across,  and  supported  by  willow 
stakes,  sufficiently  near  each  other  to  prevent  the 
passage  of  the  fish.  About  the  centre  of  each  was 
placed  a  basket  formed  of  willows,  eighteen  or 
twenty  feet  in  length,  of  a  cylindrical  form,  and  ter- 
minating in  a  conical  shape  at  its  lower  extremity; 
this  was  situated  with  its  mouth  upwards,  opposite 
to  an  aperture  in  the  weir.  The  main  channel  of  the 
water  was  then  conducted  to  this  weir,  and  as  the 
fish  entered  it  they  were  so  entangled  with  each  other 
that  they  could  not  move,  and  were  taken  out  by 
untying  the  small  end  of  the  willow  basket.  The 
weir  in  the  main  channel  was  formed  in  a  manner 
somewhat  different;  there  were  in  fact  two  distinct 
weirs  formed  of  poles  and  willow  sticks  quite  across 
the  river,  approaching  each  other  obliquely  with  an 
aperture  in  each  side  near  the  angle.  This  is  made 
by  tying  a  number  of  poles  together  at  the  top,  in 
parcels  of  three,  which  were  then  set  up  in  a  trian- 
gular form  at  the  base,  two  of  the  poles  being  in  the 
range  desired  for  the  weir,  and  the  third  down  the 
stream.  To  these  poles  two  ranges  of  other  poles 


92  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

are  next  lashed  horizontally,  with  willow  bark  and 
wythes,  and  willow  sticks  joined  in  with  these  cross- 
wise, so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  wicker-work  from  the 
bottom  of  the  river  to  the  height  of  three  or  four  feet 
above  the  surface  of  the  water.  This  is  so  thick  as 
to  prevent  the  fish  from  passing,  and  even  in  some 
parts  with  the  help  of  a  little  gravel  and  some  stone 
enables  them  to  give  any  direction  which  they  wish 
to  the  water.  These  two  weirs  being  placed  near  to 
each  other,  one  for  the  purpose  of  catching  the  fish 
as  they  ascend,  the  other  as  they  go  down  the  river, 
are  provided  with  two  baskets  made  in  the  form  al- 
ready described,  and  which  are  placed  at  the  aper- 
tures of  the  weir. 

"  After  examining  these  curious  objects,  he  re- 
turned to  the  lodges,  and  soon  passed  the  river  to  the 
left,  where  an  Indian  brought  him  a  tomahawk 
which  he  said  he  had  found  in  the  grass,  near  the 
lodge  where  Captain  Lewis  had  stayed  on  his  first 
visit  to  the  village.  This  was  a  tomahawk  which 
had  been  missed  at  the  time,  and  supposed  to  be 
stolen;  it  was,  however,  the  only  article  which  had 
been  lost  in  our  intercourse  with  the  nation,  and  as 
even  that  was  returned  the  inference  is  highly  honor- 
able to  the  integrity  of  the  Shoshones.  On  leaving 
the  lodges,  Captain  Clark  crossed  to  the  left  side  of 
the  river,  and  despatched  five  men  to  the  forks  of  it, 
in  search  of  the  man  left  behind  yesterday,  who  pro- 
cured a  horse  and  passed  by  another  road,  as  they 
learnt,  to  the  forks.  At  the  distance  of  fourteen 
miles  they  killed  a  large  salmon,  two  and  a  half  feet 
long,  in  a  creek  six  miles  below  the  forks ;  and  after 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          93 

travelling  about  twenty  miles  through  the  valley, 
following  the  course  of  the  river,  which  runs  nearly 
northwest,  halted  in  a  small  meadow  on  the  right 
side,  under  a  cliff  of  rocks.  Here  they  were  joined 
by  the  five  men  who  had  gone  in  quest  of  Crusatte. 
They  had  been  to  the  forks  of  the  river,  where  the 
natives  resort  in  great  numbers  for  the  purpose  of 
gigging  fish,  of  which  they  made  our  men  a  present 
of  five  fresh  salmon.  In  addition  to  this  food,  one 
deer  was  killed  to-day. 

"  The  western  branch  of  this  river  is  much  larger 
than  the  eastern,  and  after  we  passed  the  junction  we 
found  the  river  about  one  hundred  yards  in  width, 
rapid  and  shoaly,  but  containing  only  a  small  quan- 
tity of  timber.  As  Captain  Lewis  was  the  first  white 
man  who  visited  its  waters,  Captain  Clark  gave  it  the 
name  of  Lewis's  River.  The  low  grounds  through 
which  he  had  passed  to-day  were  rich  and  wide,  but 
at  his  camp  this  evening  the  hills  begin  to  assume  a 
formidable  aspect.  The  cliff  under  which  he  lay  is 
of  a  reddish-brown  color,  the  rocks  which  have  fallen 
from  it  are  a  dark  brown  flintstone.  Near  the  place 
are  gulleys  of  white  sandstone,  and  quantities  of  a 
fine  sand,  of  a  snowy  whiteness;  the  mountains  on 
each  side  are  high  and  rugged,  with  some  pine  trees 
scattered  over  them. 

"  August  22. — He  soon  began  to  perceive  that  the 
Indian  accounts  had  not  exaggerated ;  at  the  distance 
of  a  mile  he  passed  a  small  creek,  and  the  points  of 
four  mountains,  which  were  rocky,  and  so  high  that 
it  seemed  almost  impossible  to  cross  them  with 
horses.  The  road  lay  over  the  sharp  fragments  of 


94  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

rocks  which  had  fallen  from  the  mountains,  and  were 
strewed  in  heaps  for  miles  together,  yet  the  horses, 
altogether  unshod,  travelled  across  them  as  fast  as 
the  men,  and  without  detaining  them  a  moment. 
They  passed  two  bold-running  streams,  and  reached 
the  entrance  of  a  small  river,  where  a  few  Indian 
families  resided.  They  had  not  been  previously  ac- 
quainted with  the  arrival  of  the  whites,  the  guide  was 
behind,  and  the  wood  so  thick  that  we  came  upon 
them  unobserved,  till  at  a  very  short  distance.  As 
soon  as  they  saw  us,  the  women  and  children  fled  in 
great  consternation;  the  men  offered  us  everything 
they  had,  the  fish  on  the  scaffolds,  the  dried  berries, 
and  the  collars  of  elk's  tushes  worn  by  the  children. 
We  took  only  a  small  quantity  of  the  food,  and  gave 
them  in  return  some  small  articles  which  conduced 
very  much  to  pacify  them. 

"  The  guide,  now  coming  up,  explained  to  them 
who  we  were,  and  the  object  of  our  visit,  which 
seemed  to  relieve  the  fears,  but  still  a  number  of  the 
women  .and  children  did  not  recover  from  their 
fright,  but  cried  during  our  stay,  which  lasted  about 
an  hour.  The  guide,  whom  we  found  a  very  intelli- 
gent friendly  old  man,  informed  us  that  up  this  river 
there  was  a  road  which  led  over  the  mountains  to  the 
Missouri.  On  resuming  his  route,  he  went  along  the 
steep  side  of  a  mountain  about  three  miles,  and  then 
reached  the  river  near  a  small  island,  at  the  lower 
part  of  which  he  encamped;  he  here  attempted  to 
gig  some  fish,  but  could  only  obtain  one  small  sal- 
mon. The  river  is  here  shoal  and  rapid,  with  many 
rocks  scattered  in  various  directions  through  its  bed. 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION          9$ 

On  the  sides  of  the  mountains  are  some  scattered 
pines,  and  of  those  on  the  left  the  tops  are  covered 
with  them;  there  are  however  but  few  in  the  low 
grounds  through  which  they  passed,  indeed  they 
have  seen  only  a  single  tree  fit  to  make  a  canoe,  and 
even  that  was  small.  The  country  has  an  abundant 
growth  of  berries,  and  we  met  several  women  and 
children  gathering  them  who  bestowed  them  upon 
us  with  great  liberality.  Among  the  woods  Captain 
Clark  observed  a  species  of  woodpecker,  the  beak  and 
tail  of  which  were  white,  the  wings  black,  and  every 
other  part  of  the  body  of  a  dark  brown ;  its  size  was 
that  of  the  robin,  and  it  fed  on  the  seeds  of  the  pine. 
"  August  23. — Captain  Clark  set  off  very  early, 
but  as  his  route  lay  along  the  steep  side  of  a  moun- 
tain, over  irregular  and  broken  masses  of  rocks, 
which  wounded  the  horses'  feet,  he  was  obliged  to 
proceed  slowly.  At  the  distance  of  four  miles  he 
reached  the  river,  but  the  rocks  here  became  so  steep, 
and  projected  so  far  into  the  river,  that  there  was  no 
mode  of  passing,  except  through  the  water.  This  he 
did  for  some  distance,  though  the  river  was  very 
rapid,  and  so  deep  that  they  were  forced  to  swim 
their  horses.  After  following  the  edge  of  the  water 
for  about  a  mile  under  this  steep  cliff,  he  reached  a 
small  meadow,  below  which  the  whole  current  of  the 
river  beat  against  the  right  shore  on  which  he  was, 
and  which  was  formed  of  a  solid  rock  perfectly  inac- 
cessible to  horses.  Here  too,  the  little  track  which 
he  had  been  pursuing  terminated.  He  therefore  re- 
solved to  leave  the  horses  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
men  at  this  place,  and  examine  the  river  still  further, 


96  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

in  order  to  determine  if  there  were  any  possibility 
of  descending  it  in  canoes.  Having  killed  nothing 
except  a  single  goose  to-day,  and  the  whole  of  our 
provision  being  consumed  last  evening,  it  was  by  no 
means  advisable  to  remain  any  length  of  time  where 
they  were.  He  now  directed  the  men  to  fish  and 
hunt  at  this  place  till  his  return,  and  then  with  his 
guide  and  three  men  he  proceeded,  clambering  over 
immense  rocks,  and  along  the  sides  of  lofty  preci- 
pices which  bordered  the  river,  when  at  about  twelve 
miles  distance  he  reached  a  small  meadow,  the  first 
he  had  seen  on  the  river  since  he  left  his  party.  A 
little  below  this  meadow,  a  large  creek  twelve  yards 
wide,  and  of  some  depth,  discharges  itself  from  the 
north.  Here  were  some  recent  signs  of  an  Indian 
encampment,  and  the  tracks  of  a  number  of  horses, 
who  must  have  come  along  a  plain  Indian  path, 
which  he  now  saw  following  the  course  of  the  creek. 
This  stream  his  guide  said  led  towards  a  large  river 
running  to  the  north,  and  was  frequented  by  another 
nation  for  the  purpose  of  catching  fish.  He  remained 
here  two  hours,  and  having  taken  some  small  fish, 
made  a  dinner  on  them  with  the  addition  of  a  few 
berries. 

"  From  the  place  where  he  had  left  the  party,  to 
the  mouth  of  this  creek,  it  presents  one  continued 
rapid,  in  which  are  five  shoals,  neither  of  which  could 
be  passed  with  loaded  canoes ;  and  the  baggage  must 
therefore  be  transported  for  a  considerable  distance 
over  the  steep  mountains,  where  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  employ  horses  for  the  relief  of  the  men. 
Even  the  empty  canoes  must  be  let  down  the  rapids 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION          Q7 

by  means  of  cords,  and  not  even  in  that  way  without 
great  risk  both  to  the  canoes  as  well  as  to  the  men. 
At  one  of  these  shoals,  indeed,  the  rocks  rise  so  per- 
pendicularly from  the  water  as  to  leave  no  hope  of  a 
passage  or  even  a  portage  without  great  labor  in  re- 
moving rocks,  and  in  some  instances  cutting  away 
the  earth.  To  surmount  these  difficulties  would  ex- 
haust the  strength  of  the  party,  and  what  is  equally 
discouraging  would  waste  our  time  and  consume 
our  provisions,  of  neither  of  which  have  we  much  to 
spare.  The  season  is  now  far  advanced,  and  the  In- 
dians tell  us  we  shall  shortly  have  snow ;  the  salmon 
too  have  so  far  declined  that  the  natives  themselves 
are  hastening  from  the  country,  and  not  an  animal 
of  any  kind  larger  than  a  pheasant  or  a  squirrel,  and 
of  even  these  a  few  only  will  then  be  seen  in  this  part 
of  the  mountains ;  after  which  we  shall  be  obliged  to 
rely  on  our  own  stock  of  provisions,  which  will  not 
support  us  more  than  ten  days. 

"  These  circumstances  combine  to  render  a  pas- 
sage by  water  impracticable  in  our  present  situation. 
To  descend  the  course  of  the  river  on  horseback  is 
the  other  alternative,  and  scarcely  a  more  inviting 
one.  The  river  is  so  deep  that  there  are  only  a  few 
places  where  it  can  be  forded,  and  the  rocks  approach 
so  near  the  water  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  make 
a  route  along  the  water's  edge.  In  crossing  the 
mountains  themselves  we  should  have  to  encounter, 
besides  their  steepness,  one  barren  surface  of  broken 
masses  of  rock,  down  which  in  certain  seasons  the 
torrents  sweep  vast  quantities  of  stone  into  the  river. 
These  rocks  are  of  a  whitish  brown,  and  towards  the 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V. — 7 


98  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

base  of  a  gray  color,  and  so  hard,  that  on  striking 
them  with  steel  they  yield  a  fire  like  flint.  This 
sombre  appearance  is  in  some  places  scarcely  relieved 
by  a  single  tree,  though  near  the  river  and  on  the 
creeks  there  is  more  timber,  among  which  are  some 
tall  pine ;  several  of  these  might  be  made  into  canoes, 
and,  by  lashing  two  of  them  together,  one  of  tolerable 
size  might  be  formed. 

"  After  dinner  he  continued  his  route,  and  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  mile  passed  another  creek  about 
five  yards  wide.  Here  his  guide  informed  him  that 
by  ascending  the  creek  for  some  distance  he  would 
have  a  better  road,  and  cut  off  a  considerable  bend 
of  the  river  towards  the  south.  He  therefore  pur- 
sued a  well-beaten  Indian  track  up  this  creek  for 
about  six  miles,  when  leaving  the  creek  to  the  right 
he  passed  over  a  ridge,  and  after  walking  a  mile 
again  met  the  river,  where  it  flows  through  a 
meadow  of  about  eighty  acres  in  extent.  This  they 
passed  and  then  ascended  a  high  and  steep  point  of 
a  mountain,  from  which  the  guide  now  pointed  out 
where  the  river  broke  through  the  mountains  about 
twenty  miles  distant.  Near  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tains a  small  river  falls  in  from  the  south ;  this  view 
was  terminated  by  one  of  the  loftiest  mountains  Cap- 
tain Clark  had  ever  seen,  which  was  perfectly  cov- 
ered with  snow.  Towards  this  formidable  barrier 
the  river  went  directly  on,  and  there  it  was,  as  the 
guide  observed,  that  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
which  he  and  Cameahwait  had  spoken  commenced. 
After  reaching  the  mountain,  he  said,  the  river  con- 
tinues its  course  towards  the  north  for  many  miles, 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION          99 

between  high  perpendicular  rocks,  which  were  scat- 
tered  through  its  Bed;  it  then  penetrated  the  moun- 
tain through  a  narrow  gap,  on  each  side  of  which 
arose  perpendicularly  a  rock  as  high  as  the  top  of 
the  mountain  before  them ;  that  the  river  then  made 
a  bend  which  concealed  its  future  course  from  view, 
and  as  it  was  alike  impossible  to  descend  the  river 
or  clamber  over  that  vast  mountain,  eternally  cov- 
ered with  snow,  neither  he  nor  any  of  his  nation  had 
ever  been  lower  than  at  a  place  where  they  could  see 
the  gap  made  by  the  river  on  entering  the  mountain. 
To  that  place  he  said  he  would  conduct  Captain 
Clark  if  he  desired  it  by  the  next  evening.  But  he 
was  in  need  of  no  further  evidence  to  convince  him 
of  the  utter  impracticability  of  the  route  before  him. 
He  had  already  witnessed  the  difficulties  of  part  of 
the  road,  yet  after  all  these  dangers  his  guide,  whose 
intelligence  and  fidelity  he  could  not  doubt,  now 
assured  him  that  the  difficulties  were  only  commenc- 
ing, and  what  he  saw  before  him  too  clearly  con- 
vinced him  of  the  Indian's  veracity.  He  therefore 
determined  to  abandon  this  route,  and  returned  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  last  creek  we  had  passed,  and 
reaching  it  an  hour  after  dark  encamped  for  the 
night ;  on  this  creek  he  had  seen  in  the  morning  an 
Indian  road  coming  in  from  the  north. 

"  Disappointed  in  finding  a  route  by  water,  Cap- 
tain Clark  now  questioned  his  guide  more  particu- 
larly as  to  the  direction  of  this  road  which  he  seemed 
to  understand  perfectly.  He  drew  a  map  on  the 
sand,  and  represented  this  road  as  well  as  that  we 
passed  yesterday  on  Berry  creek  as  both  leading  to- 


100  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

wards  two  forks  of  the  same  great  river,  where  re- 
sided a  nation  called  Tushepaws,  who,  having  no  sal- 
mon on  their  river,  came  by  these  roads  to  the  fish 
weirs  on  Lewis's  river.  He  had  himself  been  among 
these  Tushepaws,  and  having  once  accompanied 
them  on  a  fishing  party  to  another  river  he  had  there 
seen  Indians  who  had  come  across  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. After  a  great  deal  of  conversation,  or  rather 
signs,  and  a  second  and  more  particular  map  from 
his  guide,  Captain  Clark  felt  persuaded  that  his  guide 
knew  of  a  road  from  the  Shoshone  village  they  had 
left,  to  the  great  river  to  the  north,  without  coming 
so  low  down  as  this  on  a  route  impracticable  for 
horses."  (This  was  the  route  the  Expedition  after- 
wards took.) 

After  making  the  reconnaissance  related  in  the 
above  extracts  from  the  "  Journal,"  Captain  Clark 
reported  all  we  had  seen  and  experienced  to  Captain 
Lewis,  who  had  a  further  talk  with  Chief  Cameah- 
wait,  the  result  of  which  was  the  determination  to 
leave  the  Shoshone  camp  and  venture  onward  with 
the  party  across  the  mountains.  To  make  the  route 
more  acceptable,  the  tribe  were,  happily,  willing  to 
barter  such  horses  and  ponies  as  they  had  to  spare, 
with  such  pack-saddles  as  they  and  the  Expedition's 
force  could  get  ready  for  use.  With  these  arrange- 
ments completed,  the  party,  early  in  September,  set 
forth,  led  by  a  guide  supplied  by  the  tribe ;  but  before 
the  month  was  half  out  they  were  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  making  a  meal  for  the  camp  of  one  of 
the  Indian  ponies,  the  supply  of  animal  food  having 
become  exhausted.  The  toil  of  the  journey  through 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        IOI 

the  mountains,  with  the  straits  the  Expedition  were 
in  in  quest  of  food,  are  indicated  in  the  subjoined 
passage  from  the  "  Journal  "  : 

"  The  thickets  of  trees  and  brush  through  which 
we  were  obliged  to  cut  our  way  required  great  labor ; 
the  road  itself  was  over  the  steep  and  rocky  sides  of 
the  hills  where  the  horses  could  not  move  without 
danger  of  slipping  down,  while  their  feet  were 
bruised  by  the  rocks  and  stumps  of  trees.  Accus- 
tomed as  these  animals  were  to  this  kind  of  life  they 
suffered  severely,  several  of  them  fell  to  some  dis- 
tance down  the  sides  of  the  hills,  some  turned  over 
with  the  baggage,  one  was  crippled,  and  two  gave 
out  exhausted  with  fatigue.  After  crpssing  the  creek 
several  times  we  at  last  made  five  miles,  with  great 
fatigue  and  labor,  and  encamped  on  the  left  side  of  a 
creek  in  a  small  stony  low  ground.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, till  after  dark  that  the  whole  party  was  col- 
lected, and  then,  as  it  rained,  and  we  killed  nothing, 
we  passed  an  uncomfortable  night.  The  party  had 
been  too  busily  occupied  with  the  horses  to  make  any 
hunting  excursion,  and  though  as  we  came  along 
Fish  creek  we  saw  many  beaver  dams  we  saw  none 
of  the  animals  themselves.  In  the  morning  the 
horses  were  very  stiff  and  weary.  We  sent  back  two 
men  for  the  load  of  the  horse  which  had  been  crip- 
pled yesterday,  and  which  we  had  been  forced  to 
leave  two  miles  behind.  On  their  return  we  set  out 
at  eight  o'clock,  and  proceeded  up  the  creek,  making 
a  passage  through  the  brush  and  timber  along  its 
borders.  The  country  is  generally  supplied  with 
pine,  and  in  the  low  grounds  is  a  great  abundance  of 


102  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

fir  trees  and  under-bushes.  The  mountains  are  high 
and  rugged,  and  those  to  the  east  of  us,  covered  with 
snow.  With  all  our  precautions  the  horses  were  very 
much  injured  in  passing  over  the  ridges  and  steep 
points  of  the  hills,  and  to  add  to  the  difficulty,  at  the 
distance  of  eleven  miles,  the  high  mountains  closed 
the  creek,  so  that  we  were  obliged  to  leave  the  creek 
to  the  right,  and  cross  the  mountain  abruptly.  The 
ascent  was  here  so  steep  that  several  of  the  horses 
slipped  and  hurt  themselves,  but  at  last  we  succeeded 
in  crossing  the  mountain,  and  encamped  on  a  small 
branch  of  Fish  creek.  We  had  now  made  fourteen 
miles  in  a  direction  nearly  north  from  the  river ;  but 
this  distance,  though  short,  was  very  fatiguing,  and 
rendered  still  more  disagreeable  by  the  rain  which 
began  at  three  o'clock.  At  dusk  it  commenced  snow- 
ing, and  continued  till  the  ground  was  covered  to  the 
depth  of  two  inches,  when  it  changed  into  a  sleet. 
We  here  met  with  a  serious  misfortune,  the  last  of 
our  thermometers  being  broken  by  accident.  After 
making  a  scanty  supper  on  a  little  corn  and  a  few 
pheasants  killed  in  the  course  of  the  day,  we  laid 
down  to  sleep,  and  next  morning  found  everything 
frozen,  and  the  ground  covered  with  snow.  We 
were  obliged  to  wait  some  time  in  order  to  thaw  the 
covers  of  the  baggage,  after  which  we  began  our 
journey  at  eight  o'clock.  We  crossed  a  high  moun- 
tain which  forms  the  dividing  ridge  between  the 
waters  of  the  creek  we  had  been  ascending,  and  those 
running  to  the  north  and  west.  We  had  not  gone 
more  than  six  miles  over  the  snow,  when  we  reached 
the  head  of  a  stream  from  the  right,  which  directed 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        103 

its  course  more  to  the  westward.  We  descended  the 
steep  sides  of  the  hills  along  its  border,  and  at  the 
distance  of  three  miles  found  a  small  branch  coming 
in  from  the  eastward.  We  saw  several  of  the  arga- 
lia,  but  they  were  too  shy  to  be  killed,  and  we  there- 
fore made  a  dinner  from  a  deer,  shot  by  one  of  the 
hunters." 

Here  is  another  extract  from  the  "  Journal,"  re- 
cording, under  date  September  i6th,  the  continued 
straits  of  the  Expedition  in  its  march  over  the 
Rockies : 

"  All  around  us  are  high  rugged  mountains, 
among  which  is  a  lofty  range  from  southeast  to 
northwest,  whose  tops  are  without  timber,  and  in 
some  places  covered  with  snow.  The  night  was 
cloudy  and  very  cold,  and  three  hours  before  day- 
break, 

"  September  17,  it  began  to  snow,  and  continued 
all  day,  so  that  by  evening  it  was  six  or  eight  inches 
deep.  This  covered  the  track  so  completely  that  we 
were  obliged  constantly  to  halt  and  examine,  lest  we 
should  lose  the  route.  In  many  places  we  had  noth- 
ing to  guide  us  except  the  branches  of  the  trees 
which,  being  low,  have  been  rubbed  by  the  burdens 
of  the  Indian  horses.  The  road  was,  like  that  of  yes- 
terday, along  steep  hill  sides,  obstructed  with  fallen 
timber,  and  a  growth  of  eight  different  species  of 
pine,  so  thickly  strewed  that  the  snow  falls  from 
them  as  we  pass,  and  keeps  us  continually  wet  to  the 
skin,  and  so  cold,  that  we  are  anxious  lest  our  feet 
should  be  frozen,  as  we  have  only  thin  moccasins  to 
defend  them. 


104  AMERICAN    BIOGRAPHY 

"  At  noon  we  halted  to  let  the  horses  feed  on  some 
long  grass  on  the  south  side  of  the  mountains,  and 
endeavored  by  making  fires  to  keep  ourselves  warm. 
As  soon  as  the  horses  were  refreshed,  Captain  Clark 
went  ahead  with  one  man,  and  at  the  distance  of  six 
miles  reached  a  stream  from  the  right,  and  prepared 
fires  by  the  time  of  our  arrival  at  dusk.  We  here  en- 
camped in  a  piece  of  low  ground,  thickly  timbered, 
but  scarcely  large  enough  to  permit  us  to  lie  level. 
We  had  now  made  thirteen  miles.  We  were  all  very 
wet,  cold,  and  hungry;  but  although,  before  setting 
out  this  morning,  we  had  seen  four  deer,  yet  we 
could  not  procure  any  of  them,  and  were  obliged  to 
kill  a  second  colt  for  our  supper. 

"  Our  horses  became  so  much  scattered  during  the 
night  that  we  were  detained  till  one  o'clock  before 
they  were  all  collected.  We  then  continued  our 
route  over  high  rough  knobs,  and  several  drains  and 
springs,  and  along  a  ridge  of  country  separating  the 
waters  of  two  small  rivers.  The  road  was  still  diffi- 
cult, and  several  of  the  horses  fell  and  injured  them- 
selves very  much,  so  that  we  were  unable  to  advance 
more  than  ten  miles  to  a  small  stream,  on  which  we 
encamped. 

"  We  had  killed  a  few  pheasant,  but  these  being 
insufficient  for  our  subsistence,  we  killed  another  of 
the  colts.  This  want  of  provisions,  and  the  extreme 
fatigue  to  which  we  were  subjected,  and  the  dreary 
prospects  before  us,  began  to  dispirit  the  men.  It 
was  therefore  agreed  that  Captain  Clark  should  go 
on  ahead  with  six  hunters,  and  endeavor  to  kill 
something  for  the  support  of  the  party.  He  there- 
fore set  out, 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        IO$ 

"  September  18,  early  in  the  morning,  in  hopes 
of  finding  a  level  country  from  which  he  might  send 
back  some  game.  His  route  lay  S.  eighty-five  de- 
grees W.  along  the  same  high  dividing  ridge,  and  the 
road  was  still  very  bad;  but  he  moved  on  rapidly, 
and  at  the  distance  of  twenty  miles  was  rejoiced  on 
discovering  far  off  an  extensive  plain  towards  the 
west  and  southwest,  bounded  by  a  high  mountain. 
He  halted  an  hour  to  let  the  horses  eat  a  little  grass 
on  the  hill  sides,  and  then  went  on  twelve  and  a  half 
miles  till  he  reached  a  bold  creek,  running  to  the  left, 
on  which  he  encamped.  To  this  stream  he  gave  the 
very  appropriate  name  of  Hungry  creek ;  for,  having 
procured  no  game,  they  had  nothing  to  eat. 

"  In  the  meantime  we  were  detained  till  after  eight 
o'clock  by  the  loss  of  one  of  our  horses  which  had 
strayed  away  and  could  not  be  found.  We  then  pro- 
ceeded, but  having  soon  finished  the  remainder  of 
the  colt  killed  yesterday,  felt  the  want  of  provisions, 
which  was  more  sensible  from  our  meeting  with  no 
water,  till  towards  nightfall  we  found  some  in  a 
ravine  among  the  hills.  By  pushing  on  our  horses 
almost  to  their  utmost  strength,  we  made  eighteen 
miles. 

"  We  then  melted  some  snow,  and  supped  on  a 
little  portable  soup,  a  few  canisters  of  which,  with 
about  twenty  weight  of  bear's  oil,  are  our  only  re- 
maining means  of  subsistence.  Our  guns  are  scarce- 
ly of  any  service,  for  there  is  no  living  creature  in 
these  mountains,  except  a  few  small  pheasants,  a 
small  species  of  gray  squirrel,  and  a  blue  bird  of  the 
vulture  kind  about  the  size  of  a  turtle  dove  or  jay, 
and  even  these  are  difficult  to  shoot." 


106  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

At  this  crisis  in  the  annals  of  the  Expedition,  the 
party  were  now  almost  over  the  Great  Divide  and 
descending  the  Pacific-side  slopes  of  the  Rockies. 
Ere  long,  they  came  upon  the  country  of  the  Nez 
Perces,  or  Pierced-nose  Indians,  situate  in  what  is 
now  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  Idaho,  close  to 
the  upper  branches  of  the  Kooskooskee  or  Clearwater 
River.  The  tribe  called  themselves  the  Chopunnish, 
and  their  chief  was  known  as  Twisted-Hair.  With 
the  latter,  after  the  surprise  at  the  meeting  of  the 
whites  was  passed,  the  party  leaders  had  a  friendly 
conference,  and  through  the  aid  of  the  interpreter 
th^y,  u^Aned  something  of  the  geography  of  the 
country  the  Expedition  had  yet  to  pass  through  to 
reach  the  Columbia  and  its  outlet  into  the  Pacific. 
With  this  tribe,  the  Nez  Perces,  the  party  stopped  for 
a  while  to  trade,  and  especially  to  provide  themselves 
with  some  few  salmon  and  several  prairie  wolves 
or  dogs,  which,  though  the  Indians  kept  only  as 
beasts  of  burden,  the  men  of  the  Expedition  were, 
in  their  extremity,  attracted  to  for  food.  Having 
been  reduced  on  the  way  across  the  Divide  to  meals 
of  fish,  berries,  and  roots,  the  "  Journal  "  states  that 
the  experiment  was  made  "  to  vary  the  food  of  the 
party  by  purchasing  a  few  dogs,  and  after  having 
been  accustomed  to  horse-flesh,  felt  no  disrelish  to 
this  dish.  The  Chopunnish,"  the  same  authority 
adds,  "  have  great  numbers  of  dogs  which  they  em- 
ploy for  domestic  purposes,  but  never  eat,  and  our 
using  the  flesh  of  that  animal  soon  brought  us  into 
ridicule  as  '  dog-eaters/  '  Of  the  tribe  among  whom 
they  were  temporarily  sojourning,  the  "  Journal " 
states: 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION 

"  The  Chopunnish  or  Pierced-riose  nation,  who 
reside  on  the  Kooskooskee  and  Lewis'  Rivers,  are  in 
person  stout,  portly,  well-looking  men;  the  women 
are  small,  with  good  features,  and  generally  hand- 
some, though  the  complexion  of  both  sexes  is  darker 
than  that  of  the  Tushepaws.  In  dress  they  resemble 
that  nation,  being  fond  of  displaying  their  orna- 
ments. The  buffalo  or  elk-skin  robe  decorated  with 
beads,  sea-shells,  chiefly  mother-of-pearl,  attached  to 
an  otter-skin  collar  and  hung  in  the  hair,  which  falls 
in  front  in  two  queues ;  feathers,  paints  of  different 
kinds,  principally  white,  green,  and  light  blue,  all  of 
which  they  find  in  their  own  country;  these  are  the 
chief  ornaments  they  use.  In  the  winter  they  wear 
a  short  shirt  of  dressed  skins,  long  painted  leggings 
and  moccasins,  and  a  plait  of  twisted  grass  round 
the  neck. 

"  The  dress  of  the  women  is  more  simple,  consist- 
ing of  a  long  shirt  of  argalia  or  ibex  skin,  reaching 
down  to  the  ankles  without  a  girdle;  to  this  are  tied 
little  pieces  of  brass  and  shells  and  other  small  arti- 
cles; but  the  head  is  not  at  all  ornamented.  The 
dress  of  the  female  is  indeed  more  modest,  and  more 
studiously  so  than  any  we  have  observed,  though  the 
other  sex  is  careless  of  the  indelicacy  of  exposure. 

"  The  Chopunnish  have  very  few  amusements,  for 
their  life  is  painful  and  laborious ;  and  all  their  exer- 
tions are  necessary  to  earn  even  their  precarious  sub- 
sistence. During  the  summer  and  autumn  they  are 
busily  occupied  in  fishing  for  salmon,  and  collecting 
their  winter  store  of  roots.  In  the  winter  they  hunt 
the  deer  on  snow-shoes  over  the  plains,  and  towards 


IO8  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

Spring  cross  the  mountains  to  the  Missouri  for  the 
purpose  of  trafficking  for  buffalo  robes." 

In  camp  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Chopunnish  lodges, 
the  Expedition  made  ready  their  canoes  for  the  de- 
scent of  the  Kooskooskee,  and  prepared  one  or  two 
dug-outs  in  which  to  transport  the  heavier  stores  of 
the  party  over  the  rough  water  they  expected  to  find 
as  they  proceeded  seaward.  Here  also  they  left 
what  remained  uneaten  of  their  Indian  ponies  in 
charge  of  a  chief,  against  the  wants  of  the  return 
journey,  and  cached,  or  concealed  in  underbrush, 
their  saddlery  and  other  impedimenta  they  were  not 
likely  to  require  on  the  river.  When  all  was  ready, 
the  Expedition  committed  itself,  on  October  8th,  to 
the  further  unknown  route  to  the  sea,  by  the  Clear- 
water  and  the  Snake  Rivers,  toward  the  Columbia, 
which  great  waterway  the  explorers  safely  reached 
and  entered  on  October  i6th.  Here,  from  the  Sokulk 
Indians,  whom  they  met  with  at  the  entrance  into  the 
Columbia,  the  party  chefs  purchased  two-score  more 
dogs  for  edible  purposes,  together  with  some  prairie 
cocks,  and  about  twenty  pounds  of  dried  horseflesh. 


CHAPTER  IX 

AFLOAT  ON  THE  COLUMBIA  TO  TIDEWATER  AND  THE 
OCEAN 

THE  Expedition  now  set  out  on  the  final  stage  of 
its  long  journey  on  the  waters  of  the  Columbia  or 
Oregon  River.  This  great  river,  as  all  know,  has  its 
sources  in  what  is  now  the  Canadian  Province  of 
British  Columbia,  whence  it  courses  southwestward 
through  the  present  State  of  Washington,  and,  when 
it  passes  the  confluence  of  the  Snake  or  Lewis  River, 
flows  westward,  with  a  northern  trend,  between  the 
States  of  Oregon  and  Washington  to  the  Pacific. 
Its  navigation,  the  explorers  were  to  find,  was  much 
obstructed  by  cascades  and  rapids,  though  many 
parts  of  it  they  also  found  sublime  in  its  scenery.  As 
yet,  practically  nothing  of  the  noble  river  was 
known:  only  in  1792  had  it  been  discovered,  when 
in  that  year  Captain  Gray  of  Boston,  in  his  ship  the 
Columbia,  entered  and  named  the  mighty  stream 
while  in  that  section  of  the  Pacific  coast  in  search  for 
furs.  This  chance  act  in  the  mouth  of  the  river,  with 
the  subsequent  descent  of  its  waters  by  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  Expedition,  established  the  United  States 
claim  to  the  region,  and  to  what  was  called  the  Ore- 
gon country.  This,  however,  was  not  settled  until 
the  year  1846,  when  in  a  dispute  with  Great  Britain, 

I OO 


110  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

at  the  time  of  the  War  with  Mexico,  the  United 
States  were  ceded  by  treaty  all  the  country  south  of 
latitude  49°.  Here,  in  1810,  it  will  be  recalled,  John 
Jacob  Astor  founded,  fifteen  miles  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia,  his  great  fur-trade  emporium, 
Astoria,  the  headquarters  of  the  salmon  fishery  and 
peltry  trade  of  the  Northwest. 

The  explorers,  meanwhile,  as  we  have  stated,  had 
entered  the  Columbia  proper  (October  17,  1805), 
and  in  the  vicinity  they  gained  from  an  Indian  chief 
(of  the  Yellippit  tribe)  some  knowledge  of  the 
course  and  characteristics  of  the  river.  On  the  way 
down,  the  party  came  upon  Indians  who  fled  in  alarm 
from  the  whites,  but  whose  confidence  was  gained 
by  kindly  acts  and  the  distribution  of  trinkets  and 
other  presents  to  their  squaws.  Soon  now,  from  a 
high  bluff  near  the  banks  of  the  stream,  Captain 
Clark  sighted  a  lofty  mountain,  with  snow-covered 
tops,  which  was  afterward  ascertained  to  be  Mount 
St.  Helena,  in  the  present  State  of  Washington,  and 
already  noted  from  the  Pacific  by  Vancouver,  the 
British  navigator  who  had  served  under  Captain 
Cook,  and  who,  about  five  years  before  the  close  of 
the  previous  century,  had  explored  the  Strait  of  Juan 
de  Fuca,  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  and  the  shores  of  Van- 
couver Island.  On  their  descent  of  the  Columbia, 
the  Expedition  had  made  its  camp  on  an  island  in  the 
river,  of  which,  and  the  events  connected  with  it, 
we  have  an  interesting  account  in  the  "Journal." 
Here  is  the  narrative : 

"  Four  miles  beyond  this  island  we  came  to  a 
rapid,  from  the  appearance  of  which  it  was  judged 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        III 

prudent  to  examine  it.  After  landing  for  that  pur- 
pose on  the  left  side,  we  began  to  enter  the  channel 
which  is  close  under  the  opposite  shore.  It  is  a  very 
dangerous  rapid,  strewed  with  high  rocks  and  rocky 
islands,  and  in  many  places  obstructed  by  shoals, 
over  which  the  canoes  were  to  be  hauled,  so  that  we 
were  more  than  two  hours  in  passing  through  the 
rapids,  which  extend  for  the  same  number  of  miles. 
The  rapid  has  several  small  islands,  and  banks  of 
musselshells  are  spread  along  the  river  in  several 
places.  In  order  to  lighten  the  boats,  Captain  Clark, 
with  the  two  chiefs,  the  interpreter,  and  his  wife,  had 
walked  across  the  low  grounds  on  the  left  to  the  foot 
of  the  rapids.  On  the  way,  Captain  Clark  ascended 
a  cliff  about  two  hundred  feet  above  the  water,  from 
which  he  saw  that  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
river  immediately  from  its  cliffs  was  low,  and 
spreads  itself  into  a  level  plain,  extending  for  a  great 
distance  on  all  sides.  To  the  west,  at  the  distance  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  is  a  very  high 
mountain  covered  with  snow,  and  from  its  direction 
and  appearance,  he  supposed  to  be  the  Mount  St. 
Helen's,  laid  down  by  Vancouver,  as  visible  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia :  there  is  also  another  moun- 
tain of  a  conical  form,  whose  top  is  covered  with 
snow,  in  a  southwest  direction.  As  Captain  Clark 
arrived  at  the  lower  end  of  the  rapid  before  any,  ex- 
cept one  of  the  small  canoes,  he  sat  down  on  a  rock 
to  wait  for  them,  and,  seeing  a  crane  fly  across  the 
river,  shot  it,  and  it  fell  near  him.  Several  Indians 
had  been  before  this  passing  on  the  opposite  side 
towards  the  rapids,  and  some  few  who  had  been 


112  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

nearly  in  front  of  him,  being  either  alarmed  at  his 
appearance  or  the  report  of  the  gun,  fled  to  their 
houses.  Captain  Clark  was  afraid  that  these  people 
had  not  yet  heard  that  white  men  were  coming,  and 
therefore,  in  order  to  allay  their  uneasiness  before 
the  whole  party  should  arrive,  he  got  into  the  small 
canoe  with  three  men  and  rowed  over  towards  the 
houses,  and  while  crossing,  shot  a  duck,  which  fell 
into  the  water. 

"  As  he  approached,  no  person  was  to  be  seen  ex- 
cept three  men  in  the  plains,  and  they  too  fled  as  he 
came  near  the  shore.  He  landed  before  five  houses 
close  to  each  other,  but  no  one  appeared,  and  the 
doors,  which  were  of  mat,  were  closed.  He  went 
towards  one  of  them  with  a  pipe  in  his  hand,  and 
pushing  aside  the  mat  entered  the  lodge,  where  he 
found  thirty-two  persons,  chiefly  men  and  women, 
with  a  few  children,  all  in  the  greatest  consterna- 
tion ;  some  hanging  down  their  heads,  others  crying 
and  wringing  their  hands.  He  went  up  to  them  all 
and  shook  hands  with  them  in  the  most  friendly 
manner;  but  their  apprehensions,  which  had  for  a 
moment  subsided,  revived  on  his  taking  out  a  burn- 
ing-glass, as  there  was  no  roof  to  the  house,  and 
lighting  his  pipe :  he  then  offered  it  to  several  of  the 
men,  and  distributed  among  the  women  and  children 
some  small  trinkets  which  he  carried  about  with 
him,  and  gradually  restored  some  tranquillity  among 
them.  He  then  left  this  house,  and  directing  each  of 
the  men  to  go  into  a  house,  went  himself  to  a  sec- 
ond: here  he  found  the  inhabitants  more  terrified 
than  those  he  had  first  seen;  but  he  succeeded  in 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION        11$ 

pacifying  them,  and  then  visited  the  other  houses, 
where  the  men  had  been  equally  successful. 

"  After  leaving  the  houses  he  went  out  to  sit  on  a 
rock,  and  beckoned  to  some  of  the  men  to  come  and 
smoke  with  him ;  but  none  of  them  ventured  to  join 
him  till  the  canoes  arrived  with  the  two  chiefs,  who 
immediately  explained  our  pacific  intentions  towards 
them.  Soon  after  the  interpreter's  wife  landed,  and 
her  presence  dissipated  all  doubts  of  our  being  well- 
disposed,  since,  in  this  country,  no  woman  ever  ac- 
companies a  war  party :  they  therefore  all  came  out 
and  seemed  perfectly  reconciled;  nor  could  we  in- 
deed blame  them  for  their  terrors,  which  were  per- 
fectly natural.  They  told  the  two  chiefs  that  they 
knew  we  were  not  men,  for  they  had  seen  us  fall 
from  the  clouds;  in  fact,  unperceived  by  them, 
Captain  Clark  had  shot  the  white  crane,  which  they 
had  seen  fall  just  before  he  appeared  to  their  eyes : 
the  duck  which  he  had  killed  also  fell  close  by  him, 
and  as  there  were  a  few  clouds  flying  over  at  the 
moment,  they  connected  the  fall  of  the  birds  and  his 
sudden  appearance,  and  believed  that  he  had  himself 
dropped  from  the  clouds;  the  noise  of  the  rifle, 
which  they  had  never  heard  before,  being  considered 
merely  as  the  sound  to  announce  so  extraordinary 
an  event.  This  belief  was  strengthened,  when  on 
entering  the  room  he  brought  down  fire  from  the 
heavens  by  means  of  his  burning-glass:  we  soon 
convinced  them  satisfactorily  that  we  were  only 
mortals,  and  after  one  of  our  chiefs  had  explained 
our  history  and  objects,  we  all  smoked  together  in 
great  harmony.  These  people  do  not  speak  precisely 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v.  —  8 


114  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  same  language  as  the  Indians  above,  but  under- 
stand them  in  conversation.  In  a  short  time  we  were 
joined  by  many  of  the  inhabitants  from  telow,  sev- 
eral of  them  on  horseback,  and  all  pleased  to  see  us, 
and  to  exchange  their  fish  and  berries  for  a  few 
trinkets.  We  remained  here  to  dine,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded. At  half  a  mile  the  hilly  country  on  the  right 
side  of  the  river  ceased :  at  eleven  miles  we  found  a 
small  rapid,  and  a  mile  further  came  to  a  small  island 
on  the  left,  where  there  are  some  willows.  Since 
we  had  left  the  five  lodges,  we  passed  twenty  more 
dispersed  along  the  river  at  different  parts  of  the  val- 
ley on  the  right;  but  as  they  were  now  apprised  of 
our  coming  they  showed  no  signs  of  alarm. 

"  On  leaving  the  island  we  passed  three  miles 
further  along  a  country  which  is  low  on  both  sides  of 
the  river,  and  encamped  under  some  willow  trees  on 
the  left,  having  made  thirty-six  miles  to-day.  Im- 
mediately opposite  to  us  is  an  island  close  to  the  left 
shore,  and  another  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  on 
which  are  twenty-four  houses  of  Indians,  all  en- 
gaged in  drying  fish.  We  had  scarcely  landed  before 
about  a  hundred  of  them  came  over  in  their  boats  to 
visit  us,  bringing  with  them  a  present  of  some  wood, 
which  was  very  acceptable:  we  received  them  in  as 
kind  a  manner  as  we  could — smoked  with  all  of 
them,  and  gave  the  principal  chief  a  string  of  wam- 
pum ;  but  the  highest  satisfaction  they  enjoyed  was 
the  music  of  two  of  our  violins,  with  which  they 
seemed  much  delighted :  they  remained  all  night  at 
our  fires.  This  tribe  is  a  branch  of  the  nation  called 
Pishquitpaws,  and  can  raise  about  three  hundred 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION 

and  fifty  men.  In  dress  they  resemble  the  Indians 
near  the  forks  of  the  Columbia,  except  that  their 
robes  are  smaller  and  do  not  reach  lower  than  the 
waist;  indeed,  three-fourths  of  them  have  scarcely 
any  robes  at  all.  The  dress  of  the  females  is  equally 
scanty;  for  they  wear  only  a  small  piece  of  a  robe 
which  covers  their  shoulders  and  neck,  and  reaches 
down  the  back  to  the  waist,  where  it  is  attached 
by  a  piece  of  leather  tied  tight  round  the  body :  their 
breasts,  which  are  thus  exposed  to  view,  are  large, 
ill-shaped,  and  are  suffered  to  hang  down  very  low : 
their  cheek-bones  high,  their  heads  flattened,  and 
their  persons  in  general  adorned  with  scarcely  any 
ornaments.  Both  sexes  are  employed  in  curing  fish, 
of  which  they  have  great  quantities  on  their 
scaffolds." 

Appended  are  some  further  records  of  the  inci- 
dents in  passing  down  the  Columbia,  the  chief  diffi- 
culty in  accomplishing  which  was  the  danger  to  the 
canoes  and  their  occupants  from  the  many  rapids 
and  falls  met  with  in  the  passage.  The  extract 
appears  in  the  "  Journal  "  under  date  October  23rd. 

"  Having  ascertained  from  the  Indians,  and  by 
actual  examination,  the  best  mode  of  bringing  down 
the  canoes,  it  was  found  necessary,  as  the  river  was 
divided  into  several  narrow  channels,  by  rocks  and 
islands,  to  follow  the  route  adopted  by  the  Indians 
themselves.  This  operation  Captain  Clark  began 
this  morning,  and  after  crossing  to  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  hauled  the  canoes  over  a  point  of  land,  so 
as  to  avoid  a  perpendicular  fall  of  twenty  feet.  At 
the  distance  of  four  hundred  and  fifty-seven  yards 


Il6  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

we  reached  the  water,  and  embarked  at  a  place  where 
a  long  rocky  island  compresses  the  channel  of  the 
river  within  the  space  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards, 
so  as  to  form  nearly  a  semicircle.  On  leaving  this 
rocky  island  the  channel  is  somewhat  wider,  but  a 
second  and  much  larger  island  of  hard  black  rock, 
still  divides  it  from  the  main  stream,  while  on  the 
left  shore  it  is  closely  bordered  by  perpendicular 
rocks.  Having  descended  in  this  way  for  a  mile,  we 
reached  a  pitch  of  the  river,  which  being  divided  by 
two  large  rocks,  descends  with  great  rapidity  down  a 
fall  eight  feet  in  height:  as  the  boats  could  not  be 
navigated  down  this  steep  descent,  we  were  obliged 
to  land  and  let  them  down  as  slowly  as  possible  by 
strong  ropes  of  elk  skin,  which  we  had  prepared  for 
the  purpose.  They  all  passed  in  safety  except  one, 
which  being  loosed  by  the  breaking  of  the  ropes,  was 
driven  down,  but  was  recovered  by  the  Indians  be- 
low. With  this  rapid  ends  the  first  pitch  of  the  great 
falls,  which  is  not  great  in  point  of  height,  and  re- 
markable only  for  the  singular  manner  in  which  the 
rocks  have  divided  its  channel.  From  the  marks 
everywhere  perceivable  at  the  falls,  it  is  obvious  that 
in  high  floods,  which  must  be  in  the  Spring,  the  water 
below  the  falls  rises  nearly  to  a  level  with  that  above 
them.  Of  this  rise,  which  is  occasioned  by  some  ob- 
structions which  we  do  not  as  yet  know,  the  salmon 
must  avail  themselves  to  pass  up  the  river  in  such 
multitudes  that  that  fish  is  almost  the  only  one 
caught  in  great  abundance  above  the  falls ;  but  below 
that  place,  we  observe  the  salmon  trout,  and  the 
heads  of  a  species  of  trout  smaller  than  the  salmon 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        Ii; 

trout,  which  is  in  great  quantities;  and  which  they 
are  now  burying  to  be  used  as  their  winter  food.  A 
hole  of  any  size  being  dug,  the  sides  and  bottom  are 
lined  with  straw,  over  which  skins  are  laid:  on 
these  the  fish,  after  being  well  dried,  is  laid,  covered 
with  other  skins,  and  the  hole  closed  with  a  layer  of 
earth  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  deep.  About  three 
o'clock  we  reached  the  lower  camp,  but  our  joy  at 
having  accomplished  this  object  was  somewhat  di- 
minished by  the  persecution  of  a  new  acquaintance. 
On  reaching  the  upper  point  of  the  portage,  we 
found  that  the  Indians  had  been  encamped  there  not 
long  since,  and  had  left  behind  them  multitudes  of 
fleas.  These  sagacious  animals  were  so  pleased  to 
exchange  the  straw  and  fish  skins,  in  which  they  had 
been  living,  for  some  better  residence,  that  we  were 
soon  covered  with  them,  and  during  the  portage  the 
men  were  obliged  to  strip  to  the  skin,  in  order  to 
brush  them  from  their  bodies.  They  were  not,  how- 
ever, so  easily  dislodged  from  our  clothes,  and 
accompanied  us  in  great  numbers  to  our  camp. 

tf  We  saw  no  game  except  a  sea-otter,  which  was 
shot  in  the  narrow  channel  as  we  came  down,  but 
we  could  not  get  it.  Having  therefore  scarcely  any 
provisions,  we  purchased  eight  small  fat  dogs,  a 
food  to  which  we  are  now  compelled  to  have 
recourse,  for  the  Indians  are  very  unwilling  to  sell 
us  any  of  their  good  fish,  which  they  reserve  for  the 
market  below.  Fortunately,  however,  the  habit  of 
using  this  animal  has  completely  overcome  the  re- 
pugnance which  we  felt  at  first,  and  the  dog,  if  not  a 
favorite  dish,  is  always  an  acceptable  one.  The 


Il8  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

meridian  altitude  of  to-day  gives  45°  42'  57"  3-10 
north,  as  the  latitude  of  our  camp. 

"  On  the  beach  near  the  Indian  huts,  we  observed 
two  canoes  of  a  different  shape  and  size  from  any 
which  we  had  hitherto  seen :  one  of  these  we  got  in 
exchange  for  our  smallest  canoe,  giving  a  hatchet 
and  a  few  trinkets  to  the  owner,  who  said  he  had 
purchased  it  from  a  white  man  below  the  falls,  by 
giving  him  a  horse.  These  canoes  are  very  beauti- 
fully made ;  they  are  wide  in  the  middle  and  taper- 
ing towards  each  end,  with  curious  figures  carved  on 
the  bow.  They  are  thin,  but  being  strengthened  by 
cross  bars,  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  which  are  tied 
with  strong  pieces  of  bark  through  holes  in  the  sides, 
are  able  to  bear  very  heavy  burdens,  and  seem 
calculated  to  live  in  the  roughest  water." 

The  nights  now  began  to  get  cold,  and  even  the 
days  were  cool,  while  much  rain  fell.  About  this 
time,  the  Expedition,  it  is  related,  was  much 
harassed  by  attacks  of  fleas,  a  persecution  which 
its  members  owed  to  contact  with  the  Indians  at  the 
Falls  of  the  Columbia.  The  tribes  were,  however, 
hospitable  and  brought  the  party  presents  of  berries, 
nuts,  and  fish.  On  the  way  they  now  (the  beginning 
of  November)  reached  tidewater  on  the  river,  and 
in  consequence  met  with  numbers  of  sea-otter,  but 
they  were  found  too  shy  to  get  near  with  a  musket, 
and  so  no  catch  of  them  was  made,  though  one  was 
shot  and  wounded.  As  they  neared  the  coast,  the 
rain  fell  for  many  days  in  torrents,  while  there  was 
much  fog,  which  not  only  impeded  progress,  but 
made  the  journey  uncomfortable  for  all.  Here,  near 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION        IIQ 

the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia,  they  now  came  upon  the 
Skilloots  (Echeloots),  a  dwindling  tribe  of  the  Chi- 
nook Indians,  now  mainly  extinct.  From  them  the 
Expedition  was  furnished  with  supplies  of  fish  and 
a  few  white  geese,  with  a  basketful  of  edible  roots 
and  some  raspberries.  One  or  two  of  the  Echeloot 
braves  they  bargained  with  to  help  in  the  conduct  of 
the  Expedition  down  the  river,  as  far  as  the  Clatsop 
villages  on  the  coast.  This  became  necessary  from 
the  stormy  character  of  the  lower  waters  of  the 
Columbia  as  they  neared  the  sea. 

In  spite  of  the  perils  and  discomforts  of  the  voy- 
age, the  men  of  the  party  continued  cheerful,  es- 
pecially in  view  of  the  approach  to  the  ocean,  where 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  it  was  designed  to  pass 
the  winter.  On  November  7th,  "  after  a  journey  of 
a  year  and  a  half  through  the  unbroken  wilderness," 
as  an  historian  of  the  Expedition  records,  "  they  first 
saw  the  blue  line  in  the  western  horizon  that  told 
them  that  the  goal  of  their  wanderings  was  at  hand. 
It  was  the  Pacific  Ocean.  At  last  they  had  reached 
the  boundless  watery  plain  upon  which  Balboa  had 
gazed  with  a  swelling  soul,  and  through  which  Ma- 
gellan had  ploughed  with  his  hardy  seamen  until  he 
had  belted  the  globe."  The  "Journal"  also  ex- 
presses satisfaction  at  the  termination  of  the  over- 
land voyage  and  the  delightful  prospect  of  the 
ocean — "  that  ocean,  the  object  of  all  our  labors,  and 
the  reward  of  all  our  anxieties.  This  cheering  view 
exhilarated  the  spirits  of  all  the  party,  who  were  still 
more  delighted  on  hearing  the  roar  of  the  breakers. 
We  went  on  amid  great  cheerfulness  under  the  high 


120  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

mountainous  country  which  continued  along  the 
right  bank;  the  shore,  however,  was  so  bold  and 
rocky  that  we  could  not,  until  after  going  fourteen 
miles  from  the  last  village,  find  any  spot  fit  for  an  en- 
campment. At  that  distance,  having  made  during 
the  day  thirty-four  miles,  we  spread  our  mats  on  the 
ground,  and  passed  the  night  in  the  rain." 

In  the  foul  weather  in  which  they  reached  the  Pa- 
cific, there  was  little  to  cheer  the  Expedition,  beyond 
that  derived  from  the  consciousness  of  duty  well  and 
loyally  performed.  Nor,  when  they  arrived  at  the 
end  of  their  destination,  did  the  party  find  any  town 
or  city  to  frequent,  as  now,  where  they  could  get 
comfortable  relief  and  relate  the  incidents  of  their 
long  and  perilous  overland  journey.  Still  less  was  it 
possible,  at  that  time,  to  communicate  with  Wash- 
ington, as  can  now  be  done  by  telegraph,  so  as  to 
apprise  the  authorities  there  of  the  successful  com- 
pletion of  one-half  of  their  arduous  enterprise.  All 
that  could  be  done,  was  the  search  by  the  party  com- 
manders for  a  suitable  camp  to  winter  in,  and  to  com- 
mit to  the  pages  of  the  "  Journal  "  the  record  of  their 
daily  experiences.  Of  the  latter,  the  "  Journal,"  un- 
der dates  November  9  and  12,  here  appended,  fur- 
nishes further  evidence  of  the  incidents  and  discom- 
forts of  the  situation : 

November  9. — "  Fortunately  for  us,  the  tide  did 
not  rise  as  high  as  our  camp  during  the  night ;  but 
being  accompanied  by  high  winds  from  the  south, 
the  canoes,  which  we  could  not  place  beyond  its 
reach,  were  filled  with  water,  and  were  saved  with 
much  difficulty:  our  position  was  very  uncomfort- 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        121 

able,  but  as  it  was  impossible  to  move  from  it,  we 
waited  for  a  change  of  weather.  It  rained,  how- 
ever, during  the  whole  day,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  flood  tide  set  in,  accompanied  by  a 
high  wind  from  the  south,  which,  about  four  o'clock, 
shifted  to  the  southwest,  and  blew  almost  a  gale 
directly  from  the  sea.  The  immense  waves  now 
broke  over  the  place  where  we  were  encamped,  and 
the  large  trees,  some  of  them  five  or  six  feet  thick, 
which  had  lodged  at  the  point,  were  drifted  over  our 
camp,  and  the  utmost  vigilance  of  every  man  could 
scarcely  save  our  canoes  from  being  crushed  to 
pieces.  We  remained  in  the  water  and  drenched 
with  rain  during  the  rest  of  the  day ;  our  only  food 
being  some  dried  fish,  and  some  rain-water  which  we 
caught.  Yet,  though  wet  and  cold,  and  some  of 
them  sick  from  using  the  salt-water,  the  men  are 
cheerful,  and  full  of  anxiety  to  see  more  of  the  ocean. 
The  rain  continued  all  night,  and, 

"  November  loth,  the  following  morning,  the 
wind  however  lulled,  and  the  waves  not  being  so 
high,  we  loaded  our  canoes  and  proceeded.  The 
mountains  on  the  right  are  high,  covered  with  tim- 
ber, chiefly  pine,  and  descend  in  a  bold  and  rocky 
shore  to  the  water.  We  went  through  a  deep  niche 
and  several  inlets  on  the  right,  while  on  the  opposite 
side  is  a  large  bay,  above  which  the  hills  are  close 
on  the  river.  At  the  distance  of  ten  miles  the  wind 
rose  from  the  northwest  and  the  waves  became  so 
high  that  we  were  forced  to  return  for  two  miles  to 
a  place  where  we  could  with  safety  unload.  Here  we 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  a  small  run,  and  having 


122  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

placed  our  baggage  on  a  pile  of  drifted  logs  waited 
until  low  water.  The  river  then  appeared  more 
calm:  we  therefore  started,  but  after  going  a  mile 
found  the  waves  too  high  for  our  canoes  and  were 
obliged  to  put  to  shore.  We  unloaded  the  canoes, 
and  having  placed  the  baggage  on  a  rock  above  the 
reach  of  the  tide,  encamped  on  some  drift  logs  which 
formed  the  only  place  where  we  could  lie,  the  hills 
rising  steep  over  our  heads  to  the  height  of  five  hun- 
dred feet.  All  our  baggage  as  well  as  ourselves  were 
thoroughly  wet  with  the  rain,  which  did  not  cease 
during  the  day;  it  continued  violently  during  the 
night,  in  the  course  of  which  the  tide  reached  the 
logs  on  which  we  lay,  and  set  them  afloat. 

"November  n. — The  wind  was  still  -high  from 
the  southwest,  and  drove  the  waves  against  the  shore 
with  great  fury:  the  rain  too  fell  in  torrents,  and 
not  only  drenched  us  to  the  skin,  but  loosened  the 
stones  on  the  hill-sides,  which  then  came  rolling 
down  upon  us.  In  this  comfortless  situation  we 
remained  all  day  wet,  cold,  with  nothing  but  dried 
fish  to  satisfy  our  hunger ;  the  canoes  in  one  place  at 
the  mercy  of  the  waves ;  the  baggage  in  another,  and 
all  the  men  scattered  on  floating  logs,  or  sheltering 
themselves  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  and  hill-sides. 
A  hunter  was  despatched  in  hopes  of  finding  some 
fresh  meat,  but  the  hills  were  so  steep,  and  covered 
with  undergrowth  and  fallen  timber,  that  he  could 
not  penetrate  them,  and  he  was  forced  to  return. 
About  twelve  o'clock  we  were  visited  by  five  Indians 
in  a  canoe :  they  came  from  above  this  place  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  their  language  much 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK    EXPEDITION         123 

resembles  that  of  the  Wahkiacum  :•  they  called  them- 
selves Cathlamahs.  In  person  they  are  small,  ill- 
made,  and  badly  clothed;  though  one  of  them  had 
on  a  sailor's  round  jacket  and  pantaloons,  whftfi,  as 
he  explained  by  signs,  he  had  received  from  the 
whites  below  the  point:  we  purchased  from  them 
thirteen  red  char,  a  fish  which  we  found  very  excel- 
lent. After  some  time  they  went  on  board  the  boat, 
and  crossed  the  river,  which  is  here  five  miles  wide, 
through  a  very  heavy  sea. 

"  November  12. — About  three  o'clock  a  tremend- 
ous gale  of  wind  arose,  accompanied  with  lightning, 
thunder  and  hail :  at  six  it  became  light  for  a  short 
time,  but  a  violent  rain  soon  began  and  lasted  during 
the  day.  During  this  storm  one  of  our  boats,  se- 
cured by  being  sunk  with  great  quantities  of  stone, 
got  loose,  but  drifting  against  a  rock,  was  recovered 
without  having  received  much  injury.  Our  situa- 
tion became  now  much  more  dangerous,  for  the 
waves  were  driven  with  fury  against  the  rocks  and 
trees,  which  till  now  had  afforded  us  refuge:  we 
therefore  took  advantage  of  a  low  tide,  and  moved 
about  half  a  mile  round  a  point  to  a  small  brook, 
which  we  had  not  observed  till  now  on  account  of 
the  thick  bushes  and  driftwood  which  concealed  its 
mouth.  Here  we  were  more  safe ;  but  still  cold  and 
wet,  our  clothes  and  bedding  rotten  as  well  as  wet, 
our  baggage  at  a  distance,  and  the  canoes,  our 
only  means  of  escape  from  this  place,  at  the  mercy 
of  the  waves :  we  were,  however,  fortunate  enough 
to  enjoy  good  health,  and  even  had  the  luxury  of 
getting  some  fresh  salmon  and  three  salmon  trout 


124  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

in  the  brook.  Three  of  the  men  attempted  to  go 
round  a  point  in  our  small  Indian  canoe,  but  the  high 
waves  rendered  her  quite  unmanageable ;  these  boats 
requiring  the  seamanship  of  the  natives  themselves 
to  make  them  live  in  so  rough  a  sea." 

The  Expedition,  after  eighteen  months  of  a  toil- 
some and  hazardous  journey,  now  found  a  welcome 
winter  home,  in  huts  erected  in  an  enclosed  and  de- 
fended camp,  which  was  named  Fort  Clatsop,  from 
the  Indians  who  inhabited  the  region.  The  latter 
they  found  friendly  and  comparatively  cleanly — at 
least,  as  Captain  Clark  observes,  "  they  sometimes 
washed  their  hands  and  faces."  In  the  camp  many 
of  the  members  of  the  Expedition  were  for  a  while 
confined  by  sickness  and  the  effects  of  the  labors  they 
had  gone  through.  From  it  the  hunters  of  the  party 
now  went  forth  in  search  of  substantial  food,  which, 
however,  was  difficult  to  find ;  while  the  leaders  and 
the  savants  explored  the  country  about,  sometimes 
making  extensive  journeys  along  the  coast  (not  then 
recognized  as  an  United  States  possession).  On  one 
of  these  expeditions,  as  we  find  related  in  the  "  Jour- 
nal," Captain  Clark  purchased  a  quantity  of  whale 
blubber,  which  the  Indians  had  extracted  from  a 
stranded  carcass  on  the  coast.  That  commander  thus 
facetiously  alludes  to  the  matter,  in  that  he  "  thanked 
Providence  for  driving  the  whale  to  us;  and  think 
Him  much  more  kind  to  us  than  he  was  to  Jonah, 
having  sent  this  monster  to  be  swallowed  by  us,  in- 
stead of  swallowing  of  us  as  Jonah's  did !  " 


CHAPTER  X 

IN  CAMP  BY  THE  PACIFIC 

REST,  and  shelter  from  the  continued  rains  and 
other  inclemencies  incident  to  life  by  the  coast, 
brought  recovery  to  the  sick  contingent  of  the  Expe- 
dition, aided  by  a  somewhat  more  nutritious  diet, 
which  could  now  be  provided,  as  well  as  temptingly 
cooked.  A  sense  of  relief,  moreover,  was  experi- 
enced by  the  party  in  not  having  to  fear  or  fight  off 
molestation  by  the  natives  among  whom  they  tarried, 
for  the  Chinooks  of  the  region  were  friendly,  and  to 
a  remarkable  extent  uncontaminated  by  contact  with 
a  poor  class  of  whites,  while  having  few  vices,  save 
gambling,  and  no  addiction  to  drink.  Of  spirituous 
liquors,  indeed,  they  are,  we  are  told,  in  the  main 
ignorant.  So  far,  the  diet  of  the  party  over  the  win- 
ter was  mainly  fish ;  but  later  on  elk  was  met  with, 
and  brought  to  camp  by  a  skilled  French  Canadian 
member  (Drewyer)  of  the  Expeditionary  force. 
The  Indians,  possessing  but  a  few  muskets,  and  with 
only  the  traditional  bow  and  arrow,  could  not  be 
much  relied  on  for  game ;  but  they  were  good  fisher- 
men, and  unusually  expert  in  handling  their  canoes 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  in  even  boisterous  weather. 
Of  the  natives  (the  Chinooks)  the  "Journal"  fur- 
nishes the  following  manifestly  accurate  description : 

"5 


126  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

"  The  men  are  low  in  stature,  rather  ugly,  and  ill- 
made;  their  legs  being  small  and  crooked,  their  feet 
large,  and  their  heads,  like  those  of  the  women,  flat- 
tened in  a  most  disgusting  manner.  These  deformi- 
ties are  in  part  concealed  by  robes  made  of  sea-otter, 
deer,  elk,  beaver,  or  fox  skins.  They  also  employ  in 
their  dress  robes  of  the  skin  of  a  cat  peculiar  to  this 
country,  and  of  another  animal  of  the  same  size, 
which  is  light  and  durable,  and  sold  at  a  high  price 
by  the  Indians,  who  bring  it  from  above.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  are  worn  blankets,  wrappers  of  red, 
blue,  or  spotted  cloth,  and  some  old  sailors'  clothes, 
which  were  very  highly  prized.  The  greater  part  of 
the  men  have  guns,  powder,  and  ball. 

"  The  women  have,  in  general,  handsome  faces, 
but  are  low  and  disproportioned,  with  small  feet  and 
large  legs  and  thighs,  occasioned,  probably,  by 
strands  of  beads,  or  various  strings,  drawn  so  tight 
above  the  ankles,  as  to  prevent  the  circulation  of  the 
blood.  Their  dress,  like  that  of  the  Wahkiacums, 
consists  of  a  short  robe,  and  a  tissue  of  cedar  bark. 
Their  hair  hangs  loosely  down  the  shoulders  and 
back;  and  their  ears,  neck,  and  wrists  are  orna- 
mented with  blue  beads.  Another  decoration,  which 
is  very  highly  prized,  consists  of  figures  made  by 
puncturing  the  arms  or  legs ;  and  on  the  arm  of  one 
of  the  squaws  we  observed  the  name  of  J.  Bowman, 
executed  in  the  same  way.  In  language,  habits,  and 
in  almost  every  other  particular,  they  resemble  the 
Clatsops,  Cathlamahs,  and  indeed  all  the  people  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  They,  however,  seem 
to  be  inferior  to  their  neighbors  in  honesty  as  well  as 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION 

spirit.  No  ill-treatment  or  indignity,  on  our  part, 
seems  to  excite  any  feeling,  except  fear;  nor,  al- 
though better  provided  than  their  neighbors  with 
arms,  have  they  enterprise  enough  to  use  them  ad- 
vantageously against  the  animals  of  the  forest,  nor 
offensively  against  their  neighbors;  who  owe  their 
safety  more  to  the  timidity  than  the  forbearance  of 
the  Chinnooks.  We  had  heard  instances  of  pilfering 
whilst  we  were  amongst  them,  and  therefore  had  a 
general  order,  excluding  them  from  our  encamp- 
ment ;  so  that  whenever  an  Indian  wished  to  visit  us, 
he  began  by  calling  out  "  No  Chinnook."  It  may  be 
probable  that  this  first  impression  left  a  prejudice 
against  them,  since,  when  we  were  among  the  Clat- 
sops,  and  other  tribes  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
the  Indians  had  less  opportunity  of  stealing,  if  they 
were  so  disposed." 

The  estimated  number  of  the  Chinnooks,  according 
to  the  account  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  was  four  hundred 
souls,  inhabiting  about  twenty-eight  houses.  Their 
mode  of  disposing  of  their  dead  is  curious,  and  may 
here  be  quoted  from  the  rich  records  of  the 
"  Journal "  : 

"  The  Chinnooks,  Clatsops,  and  most  of  the  ad- 
joining nattions  dispose  of  the  dead  in  canoes.  For 
this  purpose  a  scaffold  is  erected,  by  fixing  perpen- 
dicularly in  the  ground  four  long  pieces  of  splint  tim- 
ber. These  are  placed  two  by  two  just  wide  enough 
apart  to  admit  the  canoe,  and  sufficiently  long  to 
support  its  two  extremities.  The  boards  are  con- 
nected by  a  bar  of  wood  run  through  them  at  the 
height  of  six  feet,  on  which  is  placed  a  small  canoe 


128  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

containing  the  body  of  the  deceased,  carefully 
wrapped  in  a  robe  of  dressed  skins,  with  a  paddle, 
and  some  articles  belonging  to  the  deceased,  by  his 
side.  Over  this  canoe  is  placed  one  of  a  larger  size, 
reversed,  with  its  gunwale  resting  on  the  crossbars, 
so  as  to  cover  the  body  completely.  One  or  more 
large  mats  of  rushes  or  flags  are  then  rolled  round 
the  canoes,  and  the  whole  secured  by  cords  usually 
made  of  the  bark  of  the  white  cedar.  On  these  cross- 
bars are  hung  different  articles  of  clothing,  or  culi- 
nary utensils.  The  method  practised  by  the  Killa- 
mucks  differs  somewhat  from  this;  the  body  being 
deposited  in  an  oblong  box,  of  plank,  which,  with 
the  paddle,  and  other  articles,  is  placed  in  a  canoe, 
resting  on  the  ground.  With  the  religious  opinions 
of  these  people  we  are  but  little  acquainted,  since  we 
understand  their  language  too  imperfectly  to  con- 
verse on  a  subject  so  abstract ;  but  it  is  obvious,  from 
the  different  deposits  which  they  place  by  their  dead, 
that  they  believe  in  a  future  state  of  existence." 

Hardly  less  interesting  is  the  account  given  in  the 
"  Journal "  of  the  weapons  of  offence  and  defence, 
and  those  used  in  the  chase,  by  the  tribes  of  the  re- 
gion. Appended  is  the  record  of  these : 

"  The  implements  used  in  hunting,  by  the  Clat- 
sops,  Chinnooks,  and  other  neighboring  nations,  are 
the  gun,  bow  and  arrow,  deadfall,  pits,  snares,  and 
spears  or  gigs.  The  guns  are  generally  old  Ameri- 
can or  British  muskets  repaired  for  this  trade;  and 
although  there  are  some  good  pieces  among  them, 
they  are  constantly  out  of  order,  as  the  Indians  have 
not  been  sufficiently  accustomed  to  arms  to  under- 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        129 

stand  the  management  of  them.  The  powder  is  kept 
in  small  japanned  tin  flasks,  in  which  the  traders  sell 
it ;  and  when  the  ball  or  shot  fails,  they  make  use  of 
gravel  or  pieces  of  metal  from  their  pots,  without 
being  sensible  of  the  injury  done  to  their  guns. 
These  arms  are  reserved  for  hunting  elk,  and  the  few 
deer  and  bears  in  this  neighborhood;  but,  as  they 
have  no  rifles,  they  are  not  very  successful  hunters. 
The  most  common  weapon  is  the  bow  and  arrow, 
with  which  every  man  is  provided,  even  though  he 
carries  a  gun,  and  which  is  used  in  every  kind  of 
hunting.  The  bow  is  extremely  neat,  and,  being  very 
thin  and  flat,  possesses  great  elasticity.  It  is  made 
of  the  heart  of  the  white  cedar,  about  two  feet  and  a 
half  in  length,  two  inches  wide  at  the  centre,  whence 
it  tapers  to  the  width  of  half  an  inch  at  the  extremi- 
ties ;  and  the  back  is  covered  with  the  sinews  of  elk, 
fastened  on  by  means  of  a  glue  made  from  the  stur- 
geon. The  string  is  formed  of  the  same  sinews. 
The  arrow  generally  consists  of  two  parts;  the  first 
is  about  twenty  inches  long,  and  formed  of  light 
white  pine,  with  the  feather  at  one  end,  and  at  the 
other  a  circular  hole,  which  receives  the  second  part, 
formed  of  some  harder  wood,  and  about  five  inches 
long,  and  secured  in  its  place  by  means  of  sinews. 
The  barb  is  either  of  stone,  or  else  of  iron  or  copper, 
in  which  latter  case,  the  angle  is  more  obtuse  than 
any  we  have  seen. 

"If,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  arrow  is  formed 
of  a  single  piece,  the  whole  is  of  a  more  durable 
wood,  but  the  form  just  described  is  preferred;  be- 
cause, as  much  of  the  game  consists  of  wild  fowl  on 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v. — 9 


130  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  ponds,  it  is  desirable  that  they  should  be  con- 
structed so  as  to  float,  if  they  fall  into  the  water. 
These  arrows  are  kept  in  a  quiver  of  elk  or  young 
bear  skin,  opening  not  at  the  ends,  as  the  common 
quivers,  but  at  the  sides ;  which,  for  those  who  hunt 
in  canoes,  is  much  more  convenient.  These 
weapons  are  not,  however,  very  powerful,  for  many 
of  the  elk  we  kill  have  been  wounded  with  them; 
and,  although  the  barb  with  the  small  end  of  the 
arrows  remain,  yet  the  flesh  closes,  and  the  animal 
suffers  no  permanent  injury.  The  deadfalls  and 
snares  are  used  in  taking  the  wolf,  the  raccoon,  and 
the  fox,  of  which  there  are,  however,  but  few  in  this 
country.  The  spear  or  gig  employed  in  pursuit  of 
the  sea-otter,  (which  they  call  spuck)  the  common 
otter,  and  beaver,  consists  of  two  points  of  barbs, 
and  is  like  those  already  described,  as  common 
among  the  Indians  on  the  upper  part  of  the  Colum- 
bia. The  pits  are  chiefly  for  the  elk,  and  are  there- 
fore usually  large  and  deep  cubes  of  twelve  or  four- 
teen feet  in  depth,  and  are  made  by  the  side  of  some 
fallen  tree  lying  across  the  path  frequented  by  the 
elk.  They  are  covered  with  slender  boughs  and 
moss,  and  the  elk  either  sinks  into  it  as  he  approaches 
the  tree,  or  in  leaping  over  the  tree,  falls  into  the  pit 
on  the  other  side." 

The  stay  of  the  Expedition  at  the  coast  extended 
from  the  early  days  of  December  (1805)  ^  th£  be- 
ginning of  April  (1806).  Its  experiences  there, 
while,  in  the  main,  uneventful,  were  far  from  pleas- 
ant, owing  partly  to  the  want  of  suitable  food,  the 
excessively  wet  season,  and  the  absence  of  fuel,  as 


THE  LEWIS  AND  CLARK   EXPEDITION        131 

well  as,  in  part,  to  the  exactions  of  the  Indians  of 
the  region  in  their  barter  of  anything  the  party 
wanted  and  which  the  tribe  could  supply,  for  such 
wares  and  gewgaws  as  the  Expedition  leaders  had 
remaining  to  dispose  of.  Now  was  it  that  Lewis  and 
Clark  found  the  irony  of  President  Jefferson's  per- 
mission that  the  Expedition  should  draw  upon  the 
United  States,  through  any  of  its  resident  agents  or 
bankers,  for  such  replenishing  of  funds  and  equip- 
ment as  were  needed — a  permission  which  proved  in 
their  case  utterly  nugatory,  owing  to  the  absence  of 
any  source  through  which  such  replenishments  could 
be  negotiated  or  supplied.  Not  even  a  single  ship 
visited  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  while  the  party 
remained  there,  from  which  they  might  have  ob- 
tained the  much-needed  supplies  and  the  recruiting 
of  their  resources.  All,  however,  was  borne  uncom- 
plainingly, and  even  cheerfully.  On  holidays,  such 
as  Christmas  and  New  Year's  day,  the  party  was 
even  boisterously  gay,  so  hard  was  it  to  throw  over 
the  traditions  of  these  joyous  festivals.  The  per- 
plexity now  was  how  to  save  what  remained  of  their 
little  store  of  presents  for  use  on  the  homeward  voy- 
age and  for  the  barter  for  food  with  the  tribes  among 
whom  they  would  temporarily  sojourn  on  the  long 
way  back  to  St.  Louis.  Even  the  important  matter 
of  replenishing  their  supply  of  canoes  for  the  toil- 
some up-stream  voyage  on  the  Columbia  and  its 
tributaries  was  a  serious  reflection  and  difficulty  to 
the  party  commanders,  especially  as  for  any  sort  of 
serviceable  craft  the  Indians  at  Fort  Clatsop  asked 
not  only  a  half-carrot  of  tobacco,  but  also  a  laced 
coat! 


132  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

Camp  at  Fort  Clatsop  was  broken  on  the  23rd  of 
March  (1806),  but  the  explorers  did  not  withdraw 
from  the  region  until  the  ist  of  April.  Before  doing 
so,  Captain  Lewis  left  a  packet  with  the  Indians  to  be 
given  to  the  commander  of  any  vessel  that  might 
make  a  call  at  the  port,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Wash- 
ington authorities,  informing  them  of  the  Expedi- 
tion's reaching  the  goal  of  the  enterprise,  and  of  its 
set  out  homeward,  by  the  route  by  which  it  had 
come.  As  it  happened,  one  vessel  did  call  during  the 
forthcoming  summer — the  brig  Lydia  (Captain  Hill 
in  command), — and  to  its  commander  was  given  the 
Lewis  and  Clark  despatches ;  but  as  his  ship  was  first 
bound  for  Canton,  the  package  did  not  reach  the 
United  States  capital  from  China  until  far  on  in  the 
year  1807,  and,  of  course,  after  the  return  of  the 
Expedition  itself. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  EXPEDITION  SETS  OUT   HOMEWARD 

THE  return  journey,  which,  as  we  have  related, 
began  at  the  opening  of  April,  was,  at  the  outset, 
naturally  a  toilsome  one,  owing  to  the  arduous  effort, 
in  going  up  the  Columbia,  to  make  headway  up- 
stream, with  its  many  obstructions  in  the  way  of  falls 
and  rapids.  To  overcome  these,  great  expenditure 
of  labor  was  necessitated  at  the  many  portages  met 
with,  though  the  Expedition  was  now  lightened  of 
many  stores  it  had  been  burdened  with  on  its  way  to 
the  sea.  Aside  from  the  toil  of  getting  over  the 
many  portages,  that  of  dragging  the  loaded  canoes 
against  the  stream  was  considerable;  and  for  this 
purpose  resort  was  had  to  the  Indians  met  with  for 
horses  and  dogs  en  train,  to  do  the  towing.  Un- 
fortunately, the  Expedition  leaders'  experience  in 
bartering  for  these  was  not  an  easy  or  pleasant  one, 
as  many  of  the  tribes  met  with  were  unfriendly  as 
well  as  hard  bargain-drivers ;  while  such  of  them  as 
curiosity  brought  to  the  white  men's  camp  were,  un- 
like the  Coast  Indians,  incorrigible  thieves.  At  this 
point  we  make  a  digression  to  relate  to  the  reader  an 
instructive  account,  given  by  Lewis  and  Clark  in 


134  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

their  "  Journal,"  of  the  character  of  the  Clatsops  of 
the  Coast,  in  contrast,  to  some  extent,  with  those 
they  had  now  experience  of  on  the  voyage  up  the 
Columbia.  We  quote  the  passage  with  more  eager- 
ness, as  it  affords  an  interesting  view  of  the  Indian 
treatment  of  their  women  and  old  men : 

"  The  Clatsops  and  other  nations  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia  have  visited  us  with  great  freedom, 
and  we  have  endeavored  to  cultivate  their  intimacy, 
as  well  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  information  as 
to  leave  behind  us  impressions  favorable  to  our  coun- 
try. In  their  intercourse  with  us,  having  acquired 
much  of  their  language,  we  are  enabled  with  the  as- 
sistance of  gestures,  to  hold  conversations  with  ease. 
We  find  them  inquisitive  and  loquacious,  with  under- 
standings by  no  means  deficient  in  acuteness,  and 
with  very  retentive  memories ;  and  though  fond  of 
feasts,  and  generally  cheerful,  they  are  never  gay. 
Everything  they  see  excites  their  attention  and  in- 
quiries, but  having  been  accustomed  to  see  the 
whites  nothing  appeared  to  give  them  more  astonish- 
ment than  the  air-gun.  To  all  our  inquiries  they 
answer  with  great  intelligence,  and  the  conversation 
rarely  slackens,  since  there  is  a  constant  discussion 
of  the  events,  and  trade,  and  politics,  in  the  little  but 
active  circle  of  Killamucks,  Clatsops,  Cathlamahs, 
Wahkiacums,  and  Chinnooks.  Among  themselves, 
the  conversation  generally  turns  on  the  subjects  of 
trade,  or  smoking,  or  eating,  or  connection  with  fe- 
males, before  whom  this  last  is  spoken  of  with  a 
familiarity  which  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  in- 
decent, if  custom  had  not  rendered  it  inoffensive. 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        13$ 

"  The  treatment  of  women  is  often  considered  as 
the  standard  by  which  the  moral  qualities  of  savages 
are  to  be  estimated.  Our  own  observation,  however, 
induced  us  to  think  that  the  importance  of  the  female 
in  savage  life  has  no  necessary  relation  to  the  vir- 
tues of  the  men,  but  is  regulated  wholly  by  their 
capacity  to  be  useful.  The  Indians  whose  treatment 
of  the  females  is  mildest,  and  who  pay  most  defer- 
ence to  their  opinions,  are  by  no  means  the  most  dis- 
tinguished for  their  virtues ;  nor  is  this  deference  at- 
tended by  any  increase  of  attachment,  since  they  are 
equally  willing,  with  the  most  brutal  husband,  to 
prostitute  their  wives  to  strangers.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  tribes  among  whom  the  women  are  very 
much  debased  possess  the  loftiest  sense  of  honor, 
the  greatest  liberality,  and  all  the  good  qualities  of 
which  their  situation  demands  the  exercise.  Where 
the  women  can  aid  in  procuring  subsistence  for  the 
tribe,  they  are  treated  with  more  equality,  and  their 
importance  is  proportioned  to  the  share  which  they 
take  in  that  labor ;  while  in  countries  where  subsist- 
ence is  chiefly  procured  by  the  exertions  of  the  men, 
the  women  are  considered  and  treated  as  burdens. 
Thus,  among  the  Clatsops  and  Chinnooks,  who  live 
upon  fish  and  roots,  which  the  women  are  equally 
expert  with  the  men  in  procuring,  the  former  have  a 
rank  and  influence  very  rarely  found  among  Indians. 
The  females  are  permitted  to  speak  freely  before  the 
men,  to  whom  indeed  they  sometimes  address  them- 
selves in  a  tone  of  authority.  On  many  subjects 
their  judgments  and  opinions  are  respected,  and,  in 
matters  of  trade,  their  advice  is  generally  asked  and 


136  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

pursued.  The  labors  of  the  family,  too,  are  shared 
almost  equally.  The  men  collect  wood  and  make 
fires,  assist  in  cleansing  the  fish,  make  the  houses, 
canoes,  and  wooden  utensils ;  and  whenever  strangers 
are  to  be  entertained,  or  a  great  feast  prepared,  the 
meats  are  cooked  and  served  up  by  the  men.  The 
peculiar  province  of  the  female  is  to  collect  roots,  and 
to  manufacture  the  various  articles  which  are  formed 
of  rushes,  flags,  cedar-bark,  and  bear-grass ;  but  the 
management  of  the  canoes,  and  many  of  the  occupa- 
tions, which  elsewhere  devolve  wholly  on  the  female, 
are  here  common  to  both  sexes. 

"  The  observation  with  regard  to  the  importance 
of  females  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  treatment 
of  old  men.  Among  tribes  who  subsist  by  hunting, 
the  labors  of  the  chase,  and  the  wandering  existence 
to  which  that  occupation  condemns  them,  necessarily 
throws  the  burden  of  procuring  provisions  on  the 
active  young  men.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  a  man  is 
unable  to  pursue  the  chase,  he  begins  to  withdraw 
something  from  the  precarious  supplies  of  the  tribe. 
Still,  however,  his  counsels  may  compensate  for  his 
want  of  activity;  but  in  the  next  stage  of  infirmity, 
when  he  can  no  longer  travel  from  camp  to  camp, 
as  the  tribe  roams  about  for  subsistence,  he  is  then 
found  to  be  a  burden.  In  this  situation  they  are  aban- 
doned among  the  Sioux,  Assiniboines,  and  the  hunt- 
ing tribes  on  the  Missouri.  As  they  are  setting  out 
for  some  new  excursion,  where  the  old  man  is  unable 
to  follow,  his  children,  or  nearest  relations,  place  be- 
fore him  a  piece  of  meat  and  some  water,  and  telling 
him  that  he  has  lived  long  enough,  that  it  is  now 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        1 37 

time  for  him  to  go  home  to  his  relations,  who  could 
take  better  care  of  him  than  his  friends  on  earth,  leave 
him,  without  remorse,  to  perish,  when  his  little  sup- 
ply is  exhausted.  The  same  custom  is  said  to  prevail 
among  the  Minnetarees,  Ahnahawas,  and  Ricaras, 
when  they  are  attended  by  old  men  on  their  hunting 
excursions.  Yet,  in  their  villages,  we  saw  no  want 
of  kindness  to  old  men.  On  the  contrary,  probably 
because  in  villages  the  means  of  more  abundant  sub- 
sistence renders  such  cruelty  unnecessary,  the  old 
people  appeared  to  be  treated  with  attention,  and 
some  of  their  feasts,  particularly  the  buffalo  dances, 
were  intended  chiefly  as  a  contribution  for  the  old 
and  infirm." 

As  the  Expedition  continued  on  its  way  up  the 
Columbia,  news  was  brought  it,  by  Indians  going 
down  the  river,  of  great  destitution  prevailing  among 
the  tribes  higher  up,  many  native  lodges  being  re- 
duced to  a  diet  of  coarse  roots,  since  there  was  no 
game,  and  their  store  of  pounded  fish  was  exhausted. 
This  proved  embarrassing  to  the  exploring  party, 
especially  as  their  hunters,  who  were  constantly  sent 
out  in  search  of  food,  returned  with  nothing,  save, 
at  times,  a  stray  duck.  Higher  up,  a  few  mountain 
sheep  and  an  occasional  fallow  deer  were  brought  to 
camp,  which,  with  a  few  birds'  eggs,  supplied  tem- 
porary wants.  To  add  to  short  rations,  and  the  daily 
toil  of  portaging  and  towing,  the  party  had  also  the 
discomfort  of  pursuing  their  way  amid  almost  con- 
stant rain,  and  without  wood  to  kindle  a  fire  to  cook 
their  meals  or  to  dry  their  wet  clothes.  At  one  of  the 
falls  of  the  river,  they  had  also,  the  misfortune  to 


138  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

lose  a  pirogue,  containing  many  of  their  little  stores. 
What  horses  they  had,  moreover,  were  afflicted  with 
sore  backs;  while  they  lost  others  by  their  straying 
off  over  night  when  the  camp  was  asleep. 

The  Indians  in  general,  the  "  Journal "  informs 
us,  are  cruel  masters  in  their  treatment  of  their 
horses ;  "  they  ride  very  hard,  and  as  the  saddles  are 
so  badly  constructed  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
avoid  wounding  the  back,  yet  they  continue  to  ride 
when  the  poor  creatures  are  scarified  in  a  dreadful 
manner.  At  eleven  o'clock  we  left  these  honest, 
worthy  people,  accompanied  by  our  guide  and  the 
Chopunnish  family,  and  directed  our  course  north 
thirty  degrees  east,  across  an  open  level  sandy  plain, 
unbroken  except  by  large  banks  of  pure  sand,  which 
have  drifted  in  many  parts  of  the  plain  to  the  height 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet.  The  rest  of  the  plain  is 
poor  in  point  of  soil,  but  throughout  is  generally 
short  grass  interspersed  with  aromatic  shrubs,  and  a 
number  of  plants,  the  roots  of  which  supply  the  chief 
sustenance  of  the  natives.  Among  these  we  observe 
a  root  something  like  the  sweet  potato.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  ten  miles  we  reached  a  branch  of  the  Wol- 
lawollah  River,  rising  in  the  same  range  of  moun- 
tains, and  empties  itself  six  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  latter.  It  is  a  bold  deep  stream,  about  ten  yards 
wide,  and  seems  to  be  navigable  for  canoes.  The 
hills  of  this  creek  are  generally  abrupt  and  rocky,  but 
the  narrow  bottom  is  very  fertile,  and  both  possess 
twenty  times  as  much  timber  as  the  Columbia  itself ; 
indeed,  we  now  find,  for  the  first  time  since  leaving 
Rockfort,  an  abundance  of  firewood.  The  growth 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        139 

consists  of  cottonwood,  birch,  the  crimson  haw,  red 
and  sweet  willow,  chokecherry,  yellow  currants, 
gooseberry,  the  honeysuckle  with  a  white  berry,  rose- 
bushes, sevenbark,  sumac,  together  with  some  corn- 
grass  and  rushes.  The  advantage  of  a  comfortable 
fire  induced  us,  as  the  night  was  come,  to  halt  at  this 
place.  We  were  soon  supplied  by  Drewyer  with  a 
beaver  and  an  otter,  of  which  we  took  only  a  part  of 
the  beaver,  and  gave  the  rest  to  the  Indians.  The 
otter  is  a  favorite  food,  though  much  inferior,  at 
least  in  our  estimation,  to  the  dog,  which  they  will 
not  eat.  The  horse  too  is  seldom  eaten,  and  never 
except  when  absolute  necessity  compels  them  to  eat 
it,  as  the  only  alternative  to  prevent  their  dying  of 
hunger.  This  fastidiousness  does  not,  however, 
seem  to  proceed  so  much  from  any  dislike  to  the 
food,  as  from  attachment  to  the  animal  itself,  for 
many  of  them  eat  very  heartily  of  the  horse-beef 
which  we  give  them.  At  an  early  hour  in  the 
morning, 

"  Thursday,  May  i,  1805,  we  collected  our  horses, 
and  after  breakfast  set  out  about  seven  o'clock,  and 
followed  the  road  up  the  creek.  The  low  grounds 
and  plains  presented  the  same  appearance  as  that  of 
yesterday,  except  that  the  latter  were  less  sandy.  At 
the  distance  of  nine  miles,  the  Chopunnish  Indian, 
who  was  in  front,  pointed  out  an  old  unbeaten  road 
to  the  left,  which  he  informed  us  was  our  shortest 
route.  Before  venturing,  however,  to  quit  our  pres- 
ent road,  which  was  level,  and  not  only  led  us  in  the 
proper  direction,  but  was  well  supplied  with  wood 
and  water,  we  halted  to  let  our  horses  graze  till  the 


140  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

arrival  of  our  other  guide,  who  happened  to  be  at 
some  distance  behind.  On  coming  up  he  seemed 
much  displeased  with  the  other  Indian,  and  declared 
that  the  road  we  were  pursuing  was  the  proper  one  ; 
that  if  we  decided  on  taking  the  left  road,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  remain  till  to-morrow  morning,  and 
then  make  an  entire  day's  march  before  we  could 
reach  either  water  or  wood.  To  this  the  Chopun- 
nish  assented,  but  declared  that  he  himself  meant  to 
pursue  that  route,  and  we  therefore  gave  him  some 
powder  and  lead  which  he  requested. 

"  Four  hunters  whom  we  had  sent  out  in  the  morn- 
ing joined  us  while  we  halted,  and  brought  us  a 
beaver  for  dinner.  We  then  took  our  leave  of  the 
Chopunnish  at  one  o'clock,  and  pursued  our  route 
up  the  creek,  through  a  country  similar  to  that  we 
had  passed  in  the  morning.  But  at  the  distance  of 
three  miles,  the  hills  on  the  north  side  became  lower, 
and  the  bottoms  of  the  creek  widened  into  a  pleasant 
country,  two  or  three  miles  in  extent.  The  timber, 
too,  is  now  more  abundant,  and  our  guide  tells  us 
that  we  shall  not  want  either  wood  or  game  from 
this  place  as  far  as  the  Kooskooskee.  We  have  al- 
ready seen  a  number  of  deer,  of  which  we  killed  one, 
and  observed  great  quantities  of  the  curlew,  as  well 
as  some  cranes,  ducks,  prairie  larks,  and  several  spe- 
cies of  sparrow,  common  to  the  prairies.  There  is, 
in  fact,  very  little  difference  in  the  general  face  of 
the  country  here  from  that  of  the  plains  on  the  Mis- 
souri, except  that  the  latter  are  enlivened  by  vast 
herds  of  buffalo,  elk  and  other  animals,  which  give  it 
an  additional  interest.  Over  these  wide  bottoms  we 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        141 

continued  on  a  course  north,  seventy-five  degrees 
east,  till,  at  the  distance  of  seventeen  miles  from 
where  we  dined,  and  twenty-six  from  our  last  en- 
campment, we  halted  for  the  night.  We  had  scarce- 
ly encamped,  when  three  young  men  came  up  from 
the  Wollawollah  village,  with  a  steel  trap,  which  had 
been  left  behind  inadvertently,  and  which  they  had 
come  a  whole  day's  journey  in  order  to  restore.  This 
act  of  integrity  was  the  more  pleasing,  because, 
though  very  rare  among  Indians,  it  corresponds  per- 
fectly with  the  general  behavior  of  the  Wollawollahs, 
among  whom  we  had  lost  carelessly  several  knives, 
which  were  always  returned  as  soon  as  found.  We 
may,  indeed,  justly  affirm,  that  of  all  the  Indians 
whom  we  have  met  since  leaving  the  United  States, 
[the  East],  the  Wollawollahs  were  the  most  hospita- 
ble, honest,  and  sincere." 

By  May,  when  the  Expedition  reached  the  camps 
of  their  former  friends,  matters  perceptibly  im- 
proved, for  both  wood  and  game  were  now  had,  the 
latter  including  beaver  and  otter.  At  this  period, 
they  had  reached  the  Kooskooskee,  and  here  they 
now  sought  out  the  chief,  Twisted-hair,  to  whom 
they  had  confided  their  horses  when  on  their  west- 
ward journey,  and  in  whose  country  the  commanders 
of  the  Expedition  had  cached  their  bridles  and  sad- 
dles and  other  stores  they  could  then  afford  to  leave 
behind.  Having  found  the  chief,  they  were  non- 
plused to  discover  him  sullen,  and  that  he  held  him- 
self aloof  from  them.  An  explanation  of  this  was 
quickly  found,  as  the  result  of  catechizings  of  the 
chief,  when  he  declared  that  after  the  Expedition 


142  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

had  gone  on  to  the  coast  he  had  had  a  quarrel  with 
two  other  chiefs  of  his  tribe,  who  were  jealous  of  the 
fact  that  the  white  men's  horses  had  been  entrusted 
to  his  (Twisted-hair's)  care,  and  in  the  trouble  that 
ensued  the  horses  had  got  scattered.  He  further 
said,  that,  on  the  rise  of  the  river  in  the  Spring,  the 
high  waters  had  washed  away  the  earth  about  the 
region  of  the  cache  and  exposed  the  saddles,  and  that 
some  of  them  were  doubtless  stolen  and  might  not  all 
be  recovered.  He,  however,  promised  to  put  the 
party  again  in  possession  of  them,  and  to  collect,  or 
make  restitution  for,  the  horses.  This,  after  a  parley, 
the  chief  did,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Expedition,  though  not  all  were  recovered. 
Before  proceeding  on  the  journey,  amity  was  re- 
stored in  the  party's  relations  with  the  chief  and  his 
tribe,  and  the  latter  was  given  his  promised  reward 
for  the  care  of  the  horses  and  the  Expedition's  effects 
— two  guns  and  a  quantity  of  ammunition. 

Here  they  were  still  west  of  the  Bitter  Root  Moun- 
tains, and,  these  now  being  covered  with  snow,  the 
party  went  into  camp  for  a  while  until  it  would  be 
safe  to  cross  them  and  the  other  ranges  of  the 
Rockies.  In  the  meantime,  the  Expedition's  hunters 
killed  a  grizzly  and  brought  it  to  camp,  along  with 
two  squirrels  and  some  pheasants,  so  that  their  im- 
mediate necessities  were  relieved,  and  ere  long  a 
move  was  made  to  the  villages  of  the  next  tribe  on 
the  route — the  Nez  Perces.  At  the  latter's  lodges, 
foul  weather  detained  them,  together  with  pressing 
need  of  food  for  the  party,  since  they  had  again  been 
reduced  to  feeding  on  roots  and  herbs.  Here  they 


THE   LEWIS  AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION        143 

remained  for  a  month,  that  is,  on  as  far  in  the  season 
as  June  zoth,  when  they  set  out  on  a  difficult  trail 
which  led  to  the  mountains.  Most  of  the  time,  the 
privations  the  explorers  had  to  endure  from  want  of 
adequate  sustenance  were  great ;  while  many  suffered 
from  sickness,  due  to  the  discomforts  of  the  rainy 
season  and  a  low  diet.  By  administering  medical 
relief  to  some  sick  Indians  of  the  tribe,  the  party 
managed  to  get  a  share  of  what  the  natives  sub- 
sisted on,  added  to  what  little  their  own  hunters 
brought  in  for  the  camp-larder.  By  June  2nd,  mat- 
ters had  somewhat  improved  in  the  diet  line,  for,  it  is 
related,  that  some  men  of  the  party  brought  to  camp 
three  bushels  of  edible  roots  and  some  bread,  which, 
in  their  then  situation,  was  deemed  as  important  "  as 
the  arrival  of  an  East  Indiaman."  Later  on,  some  of 
the  party  having  been  sent  on  to  the  Lewis  River, 
they  returned  with  "  some  roots  of  cows  and  seven- 
teen salmon."  It  is  added,  however,  that  the  dis- 
tance whence  they  brought  the  salmon  was  so  great 
as  to  spoil  most  of  the  fish,  though  such  as  continued 
fresh  were,  we  are  told,  "  extremely  delicious,  the 
flesh  being  of  a  fine  rose  color,  with  a  small  mixture 
of  yellow,  and  so  fat  that  they  were  cooked  very  well 
without  the  addition  of  any  oil  or  grease." 

By  the  loth  of  June,  camp  was  broken,  and  the 
party  proceeded  eastward  to  the  foothills  of  the 
Rockies,  the  hunters  of  the  Expedition  meanwhile 
keeping  a  good  look-out  for  game.  By  the  middle 
of  the  month,  they  were  well  within  the  heart  of  the 
Bitter  Root  range  and  ascending  it  with  much  toil, 
for  it  was  still  covered  with  snow.  So  deep  was  the 


144  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

latter  on  the  mountains  (from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet), 
that  the  trail  was  frequently  lost,  entailing  much, 
and  often  despairing,  effort  to  recover  it.  This  ne- 
cessitated a  halt,  so  as  to  send  back  for  a  guide, 
which,  luckily,  they  were  able  to  procure,  and  thus 
were  enabled  to  pursue  their  course  across  the  range 
in  the  direction  of  the  Falls  of  the  Missouri.  The 
subsistence  question  continued  still  a  serious  one, 
owing  to  the  scantiness  of  anything  in  the  shape  of 
game,  though  they  were  able  to  take  a  few  trout,  and, 
later  on,  a  bear  (in  bad  order,  it  is  said),  together 
with  a  deer.  In  the  expeditions  in  search  for  food, 
the  party  were  embarrassed  for  a  time  by  the  stray- 
ing away  of  three  men,  who  for  a  couple  of  days 
were  lost  in  the  high  ridges  of  the  region,  but  were 
subsequently  found  and  brought  into  camp.  With 
them  they  brought  three  Indians,  who,  for  the  com- 
pensation of  two  guns,  were  induced  to  guide  them 
over  the  remaining  portions  of  the  mountain  journey 
and  bring  the  party  to  the  Missouri  Falls.  Finally 
getting  across  the  heights  of  the  Divide,  it  was 
deemed  prudent  to  break  up  the  party,  one  section, 
consisting  of  Captain  Lewis  and  nine  men,  proceed- 
ing by  the  most  direct  route  to  the  Missouri  Falls, 
while  Captain  Clark,  with  the  remainder  (now  only 
ten  men),  went  on  to  the  Yellowstone,  there  to  await 
the  coming  of  the  chief  leader.  This  change  "in  the 
Expedition's  movements  was  determined  on  at  the 
end  of  July  (1806),  with  the  design  that  Clark  and 
his  party  should  have  time  to  build  boats  for  the 
transportation  of  all  down  the  Yellowstone  and  the 
Missouri.  Instructions  were  further  given  Captain 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK    EXPEDITION        145 

Clark  to  despatch  two  mounted  men  of  his  following 
to  the  British  posts  on  the  Assiniboine,  with  a  letter 
to  its  agent  asking  that  official  to  induce  some  chiefs 
of  the  Sioux  Indians  to  accompany  the  party  in  its 
return  to  St.  Louis  and  Washington. 
A.  B.,VOL  v.  — 10 


CHAPTER   XII 

HOMEWARD   ACROSS   THE   GREAT   DIVIDE   AND   DOWN 
THE  YELLOWSTONE. 

FROM  the  beginning  of  July  to  the  middle  of  Au- 
gust the  Expedition  was  now  subdivided,  each  party, 
under  its  own  leader,  taking  its  own  way  over  the 
Great  Divide  on  the  homeward  journey.  The  design 
of  Captain  Lewis  was  to  proceed  by  the  shortest 
route  across  the  Rockies,  thence  by  the  eastern 
branch  of  Clark's  River  to  the  forks  of  the  Cokala- 
hishkit.  Here  the  course  lay  through  the  region 
called  by  the  explorers  the  "  Knobs  of  the  Prairie," 
by  way  of  the  present  Montana  City  of  Missoula,  on 
to  the  Sun,  or  Medicine,  River,  which  enters  into  the 
Missouri  near  the  Falls,  and  so  on  to  the  former 
haunts  of  the  party  by  the  Maria  River.  The  Clark 
section  of  the  Expedition,  of  which  the  squaw  Saca- 
jawea,  her  husband  and  child  formed  a  portion,  pro- 
ceeded by  way  of  the  Bitter  Root  River  over  the 
Continental  Divide  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Wis- 
dom, or  Big  Hole,  River,  thence  to  the  forks  of  the 
Jefferson,  a  tributary  of  the  Missouri.  From  here 
they  were  to  go  down  the  Jefferson,  up  the  Gallatin, 
and  over  the  ridges  of  the  region  to  the  Yellowstone, 

146 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        147 

thence  to  the  place  agreed  upon  as  a  rendezvous  on 
the  Missouri. 

Here  are  some  of  the  incidents  which  the  "  Jour- 
nal "  relates  as  happening  to  the  Lewis  section  of  the 
Expedition  in  its  route  up  the  eastern  branch  of  the 
Clark  River,  then  on  by  the  Cokalahishkit  and  the 
Medicine  Rivers  to  the  Maria  River,  with  an  account 
of  the  general  character  of  the  region.  The  date  is 
the  opening  days  of  July,  1806 : 

"  Having  made  these  arangements,  this  and  the 
following  day  were  employed  in  hunting  and  repair- 
ing our  arms.  We  were  successful  in  procuring  a 
number  of  fine  large  deer,  the  flesh  of  which  was  ex- 
posed to  dry.  Among  other  animals  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, are  the  dove,  black  woodpecker,  lark  wood- 
pecker, logcock,  prairie  lark,  sandhill  crane,  prairie 
hen,  with  the  short  and  pointed  tail;  the  robin,  a 
species  of  brown  plover,  a  few  curlews,  small  black- 
birds, ravens,  hawks,  and  a  variety  of  sparrows,  as 
well  as  the  bee  martin,  and  several  species  of  corvus. 
The  mosquitoes  too  have  been  excessively  trouble- 
some since  our  arrival  here.  The  Indians  assert 
also,  that  there  are  great  numbers  of  the  white  buf- 
falo or  mountain  sheep,  on  the  snowy  heights  of  the 
mountains,  west  of  Clark's  River.  They  generally 
inhabit  the  rocky  and  most  inaccessible  parts  of  the 
mountains,  but,  as  they  are  not  fleet,  are  easily  killed 
by  the  hunters. 

"  The  Indians  who  had  accompanied  us  intended 
leaving  us  in  order  to  seek  their  friends,  the  Ootla- 
shoots;  but  we  prevailed  on  them  to  accompany 
Captain  Lewis  a  part  of  his  route,  so  as  to  show  him 


148  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  shortest  road  to  the  Missouri,  and  in  the  mean- 
time amused  them  with  conversation  and  running 
races,  both  on  foot  and  with  horses,  in  both  of 
which  they  proved  themselves  hardy,  athletic  and 
active.  To  the  chief,  Captain  Lewis  gave  a  small 
medal  and  a  gun,  as  a  reward  for  having  guided  us 
across  the  mountains;  in  return,  the  customary 
civility  of  exchanging  names  passed  between  them, 
by  which  the  former  acquired  the  title  of  Yomekol- 
lick,  or  white  bearskin  unfolded.  The  Chopunnish 
who  had  overtaken  us  on  the  26th,  made  us  a  present 
of  an  excellent  horse,  for  the  good  advice  we  gave 
him,  and  as  a  proof  of  his  attachment  to  the  whites, 
as  well  as  of  his  desire  to  be  at  peace  with  the 
Pahkees.  The  next  morning, 

"  July  3,  all  our  preparations  being  completed,  we 
saddled  our  horses,  and  the  two  parties  who  had 
been  so  long  companions,  now  separated  with  an 
anxious  hope  of  soon  meeting,  after  each  had  accom- 
plished the  purpose  of  his  destination. 

u  The  nine  men  and  five  Indians  who  accompanied 
Captain  Lewis  proceeded  in  a  direction  due  north, 
down  the  west  side  of  Clark's  River.  Half  a  mile 
from  the  camp  we  forded  Traveller 's-rest  Creek,  gnd 
two  and  a  half  miles  further,  passed  a  western 
branch  of  the  river ;  a  mile  beyond  this,  was  a  small 
creek  on  the  eastern  side,  and,  a  mile  lower  down, 
the  entrance  of  the  eastern  branch  of  the  river. 
This  stream  is  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  yards  wide,  and  its  water,  which  is  dis- 
charged through  two  channels,  is  more  turbid  than 
that  of  the  main  river.  The  latter  is  one  hundred 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        149 

and  fifty  yards  in  width,  and  waters  an  extensive 
level  plain  and  prairie,  which  on  its  lower  parts  are 
ornamented  with  long-leafed  pine  and  cottonwood, 
while  the  tops  of  the  hills  are  covered  with  pine, 
larch,  and  fir.  We  proceeded  two  miles  further  to 
a  place  where  the  Indians  advised  us  to  cross,  but 
having  no  boats,  and  timber  being  scarce,  four  hours 
were  spent  in  collecting  timber  to  make  three  small 
rafts ;  on  which,  with  some  difficulty  and  danger,  we 
passed  the  river.  We  then  drove  our  horses  into  the 
water  and  they  swam  to  the  opposite  shore,  but  the 
Indians  crossed  on  horseback,  drawing  at  the  same 
time  their  baggage  alongside  of  them  in  small  basins 
of  deer  skins.  The  whole  party  being  now  reas- 
sembled, we  continued  for  three  miles,  and  encamped 
about  sunset  at  a  small  creek.  The  Indians  now 
showed  us  a  road  at  no  great  distance,  which  they 
said  would  lead  up  the  eastern  branch  of  Clark's 
River,  and  another  river  called  Cokalahishkit,  or  the 
river  of  the  road  to  buffalo,  thence  to  Medicine  River 
and  the  falls  of  the  Missouri.  They  added,  that  not 
far  from  the  dividing  ridge  of  the  waters  of  Clark's 
River  and  the  Missouri,  the  roads  forked,  and 
though  both  led  to  the  falls,  the  left  hand  route  was 
the  best.  The  route  was  so  well  beaten  that  we 
could  no  longer  mistake  it,  and  having  now  shown 
us  the  way,  they  were  anxious  to  go  on  in  quest  of 
their  friends,  the  Shahlees,  besides  which,  they 
feared,  by  venturing  further  with  us,  to  encounter 
the  Pahkees,  for  we  had  this  afternoon  seen  a  fresh 
track  of  a  horse,  which  they  supposed  to  be  a  Shahlee 
scout.  We  could  not  insist  on  their  remaining 


I$0  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

longer  with  us ;  but  as  they  had  so  kindly  conducted 
us  across  the  mountains,  we  were  desirous  of  giving 
them  a  supply  of  provisions,  and  therefore  dis- 
tributed to  them  half  of  three  deer,  and  the  hunters 
were  ordered  to  go  out  early  in  the  morning,  in 
hope  of  adding  to  the  stock. 

"  July  4. — The  hunters  accordingly  set  out,  but 
returned  unsuccessful  about  eleven  o'clock.  In  the 
meantime  we  were  joined  by  a  young  man  of  the 
Palloatpallah  tribe,  who  had  set  out  a  few  days  after 
us,  and  had  followed  us  alone  across  the  mountains, 
the  same  who  had  attempted  to  pass  the  mountains 
in  June,  while  we  were  on  the  Kooskooskee,  but  was 
obliged  to  return.  We  now  smoked  a  farewell  pipe 
with  our  estimable  companions,  who  expressed  every 
emotion  of  regret  at  parting  with  us,  which  they  felt . 
the  more,  because  they  did  not  conceal  their  fears  of 
our  being  cut  off  by  the  Pahkees.  We  also  gave 
them  a  shirt,  a  handkerchief,  and  a  small  quantity  of 
ammunition.  The  meat  which  they  received  from 
us  was  dried  and  left  at  this  place  as  a  store  during 
the  homeward  journey.  This  circumstance  con- 
firms our  belief  that  there  is  no  route  along  Clark's 
River  to  the  Columbian  plains  so  near  or  so  good  as 
that  by  which  we  came;  for,  although  these  people 
mean  to  go  for  several  days'  journey  down  that 
river,  to  look  for  the  Shahlees,  yet  they  intend  return- 
ing home  by  the  same  pass  of  the  mountain  through 
which  they  conducted  us.  This  route  is  also  used 
by  all  the  nations  whom  we  know  west  of  the  moun- 
tains who  are  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  plains  of 
the  Missouri;  while  on  the  other  side  all  the  war 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION        151 

paths  of  the  Pahkees,  which  fall  into  this  valley  of 
Clark's  River,  concentre  at  Traveller's-rest,  beyond 
which  these  people  have  never  ventured  to  the  west. 
"  Having  taken  leave  of  the  Indians,  we  mounted 
our  horses,  and  proceeded  up  the  eastern  branch  of 
Clark's  River  through  the  level  plain  in  which  we 
were  encamped.  At  a  distance  of  five  miles  we  had 
crossed  a  small  creek  fifteen  yards  wide,  and  now 
entered  the  mountains.  The  river  is  here  closely 
confined  within  the  hills  for  two  miles,  when  the 
bottom  widens  into  an  extensive  prairie,  and  the 
river  is  one  hundred  and  ten  yards  in  width.  We 
went  three  miles  further,  over  a  high  plain  suc- 
ceeded by  a  low  and  level  prairie,  to  the  entrance  of 
the  Cokalahishkit.  This  river  empties  itself  from 
the  northeast,  is  deep,  rapid,  and  about  sixty  yards 
wide,  with  banks,  which  though  not  high,  are  suffi- 
ciently bold  to  prevent  the  water  from  overflowing. 
The  eastern  branch  of  Clark's  River  is  ninety  yards 
wide  above  the  junction,  but  below  it  spreads  to  one 
hundred.  The  waters  of  both  are  turbid,  though  the 
Cokalahishkit  is  the  clearer  of  the  two;  the  beds  of 
both  are  composed  of  sand  and  gravel,  but  neither  of 
them  is  navigable  on  account  of  the  rapids  and  shoals 
which  obstruct  their  currents.  Before  the  junction 
of  these  streams,  the  country  had  been  bare  of  trees, 
but  as  we  turned  up  the  north  branch  of  the  Coka- 
lahishkit, we  found  a  woody  country,  though  the 
hills  were  high  and  the  lew  grounds  narrow  and 
poor.  At  the  distance  of  eight  miles,  in  a  due  east 
course,  we  encamped  in  a  bottom,  where  there  was 
an  abundance  of  excellent  grass.  The  evening 


152  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

proved  fine  and  pleasant,  and  we  were  no  longer 
annoyed  by  mosquitoes.  Our  only  game  were  two 
squirrels,  one  of  the  kind  common  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  second  a  ground  squirrel  of  a  species 
we  had  not  seen  before.  Near  the  place  where  we 
crossed  Clark's  River,  we  saw  at  a  distance  some 
wild  horses,  which  are  said,  indeed,  to  be  very  nu- 
merous on  this  river  as  well  as  on  the  heads  of  the 
Yellowstone. 

"  July  5. — Early  in  the  morning  we  proceeded  on 
for  three  and  a  half  miles,  in  a  direction  north 
seventy-five  degrees  east,  then  inclining  to  the  south, 
crossed  an  extensive,  beautiful,  and  well  watered 
valley,  nearly  twelve  miles  in  length,  at  the  extrem- 
ity of  which  we  halted  for  dinner.  Here  we  ob- 
tained a  great  quantity  of  quamash,  and  shot  an 
antelope  from  a  gang  of  females,  who  at  this  season 
herd  together,  apart  from  the  bucks.  After  dinner 
we  followed  the  course  of  the  river  eastwardly  for 
six  miles,  to  the  mouth  of  a  creek  thirty-five  yards 
wide,  which  we  called  Werner's  Creek.  It  comes  in 
from  the  north,  and  waters  a  high  extensive  prairie, 
the  hills  near  which  are  low,  and  supplied  with  the 
long-leafed  pine,  larch,  and  some  fir.  The  road  then 
led  north  twenty-two  degrees  west,  for  four  miles, 
soon  after  which  it  again  turned  north  seventy-three 
degrees  east,  for  two  and  a  half  miles,  over  a  hand- 
some plain,  watered  by  Werner's  Creek,  to  the  river, 
which  we  followed  on  its  eastern  direction,  through 
a  high  prairie,  rendered  very  unequal  by  a  vast  num- 
ber of  little  hillocks  and  sinkholes,  and  at  three  miles 
distance  encamped  near  the  entrance  of  a  large  creek, 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        153 

twenty  yards  wide,  to  which  we  gave  the  name  of 
Seaman's  Creek.  We  had  seen  no  Indians,  al- 
though near  the  camp  were  the  concealed  fires  of  a 
war  party,  who  had  passed  about  two  months  ago. 

"July  6. — At  sunrise  we  continued  our  course 
eastward  along  the  river.  At  seven  miles  distance 
we  passed  the  north  fork  of  the  Cokalahishkit,  a  deep 
and  rapid  stream,  forty-five  yards  in  width,  and  like 
the  main  branch  itself  somewhat  turbid,  though  the 
other  streams  of  this  country  are  clear.  Seven  miles 
further  the  river  enters  the  mountains,  and  here  end 
those  extensive  prairies  on  this  side,  though  they 
widen  in  their  course  towards  the  southeast,  and 
form  an  Indian  route  to  Dearborn's  River,  and 
thence  to  the  Missouri.  From  the  multitude  of 
knobs  irregularly  scattered  through  them,  Captain 
Lewis  called  this  country  the  Prairie  of  the  Knobs. 
They  abound  in  game,  as  we  saw  goats,  deer,  great 
numbers  of  the  burrowing  squirrels,  some  curlews, 
bee  martins,  woodpeckers,  plover,  robins,  doves, 
ravens,  hawks,  ducks,  a  variety  of  sparrows,  and 
yesterday  observed  swans  on  Werner's  Creek. 
Among  the  plants  we  observed  the  southern  wood, 
and  two  other  species  of  shrubs,  of  which  we  pre- 
served specimens. 

"  On  entering  the  high  grounds  we  followed  the 
course  of  the  river  through  the  narrow  bottoms, 
thickly  timbered  with  pine  and  cottonwood  inter- 
mixed, and  variegated  with  the  bois-rouge,  which 
is  now  in  bloom,- the  common  small  blue  flag  and 
pepper-grass ;  and  at  the  distance  of  three  and  a  half 
miles,  reached  the  two  forks  of  the  river  mentioned 


154  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

by  the  Indians.  They  are  nearly  equal  in  width, 
and  the  road  itself  here  forks  and  follows  each  of 
them.  We  followed  that  which  led  us  in  a  direc- 
tion north  seventy-five  degrees  east,  over  a  steep 
high  hill,  thence  along  a  wide  bottom  to  a  thickly 
wooded  side  of  a  hill,  where  the  low  grounds  are 
narrow,  till  we  reached  a  large  creek,  eight  miles 
from  the  forks  and  twenty-five  from  our  last  en- 
campment. Here  we  halted  for  the  night.  In  the 
course  of  the  day  the  track  of  the  Indians,  whom  we 
supposed  to  be  the  Pahkees,  continued  to  grow 
fresher,  and  we  passed  a  number  of  old  lodges  and 
encampments.  At  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning, 
"  July  7,  we  proceeded  through  a  beautiful  plain 
on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  which  seems  here  to 
abound  in  beaver.  The  low  grounds  possess  much 
timber,  and  the  hills  are  covered  chiefly  with  pitch 
pine,  that  of  the  long-leafed  kind  having  disappeared 
since  we  left  the  Prairie  of  the  Knobs.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  twelve  miles  we  left  the  river  or  rather  the 
creek,  and  having  for  four  miles  crossed,  in  a  direc- 
tion north  fifteen  degrees  east,  two  ridges,  again 
struck  to  the  right,  which  we  followed  through  a 
narrow  bottom,  covered  with  low  willows  and  grass, 
and  abundantly  supplied  with  both  deer  and  beaver. 
After  seven  miles  we  reached  the  foot  of  a  ridge, 
which  we  ascended  in  a  direction  north  forty-five 
degrees  east,  through  a  low  gap  of  easy  ascent  from 
the  westward,  and  on  descending  it  were  delighted 
at  discovering  that  this  was  the  dividing  ridge  be- 
tween the  waters  of  the  Columbia  and  those  of  the 
Missouri.  From  this  gap  the  Fort  Mountain  is 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        1 55 

about  twenty  miles  in  a  northeastern  direction.  We 
now  wound  through  the  hills  and  hollows  of  the 
mountains,  passing  several  rivulets,  which  run  to  the 
right,  and  at  the  distance  of  nine  miles  from  the  gap 
encamped,  after  making  thirty-two  miles.  We  pro- 
cured some  beaver,  and  this  morning  saw  some  signs 
and  tracks  of  buffalo,  from  which  it  seems  those  ani- 
mals do  sometimes  penetrate  to  a  short  distance 
within  the  mountains. 

"July  8. — At  three  miles  from  our  camp  we 
reached  a  stream,  issuing  from  the  mountains  to  the 
southwest,  though  it  only  contains  water  for  a  width 
of  thirty  feet,  yet  its  bed  is  more  than  three  times 
that  width,  and  from  the  appearance  of  the  roots  and 
trees  in  the  neighboring  bottom,  must  sometimes  run 
with  great  violence;  we  called  it  Dearborn's  River. 
Half  a  mile  further  we  observed  from  a  height  the 
Shishequaw  Mountain,  a  high  insulated  mountain 
of  a  conic  form,  standing  several  miles  in  advance  of 
the  eastern  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  now 
about  eight  miles  from  us,  and  immediately  on  our 
road,  which  was  in  a  northwest  direction.  But  as 
our  object  was  to  strike  Medicine  River,  and  hunt 
down  to  its  mouth  in  order  to  procure  skins  for  the 
food  and  gear  necessary  for  the  three  men  who  are 
to  be  left  at  the  falls,  none  of  whom  are  hunters,  we 
determined  to  leave  the  road,  and  therefore  pro- 
ceeded due  north,  through  an  open  plain,  till  we 
reached  Shishequaw  Creek,  a  stream  about  twenty 
yards  wide,  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  timber 
in  its  low  grounds.  Here  we  halted  and  dined,  and 
now  felt,  by  the  luxury  of  our  food,  that  we  were 


AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

approaching  once  more  the  plains  of  the  Missouri, 
so  rich  in  game.  We  saw  a  great  number  of  deer, 
goats,  wolves,  and  some  barking  squirrels,  and  for 
the  first  time  caught  a  distant  prospect  of  two  buf- 
falo. After  dinner  we  followed  the  Shishequaw  for 
six  and  a  half  miles,  to  its  entrance  into  Medicine 
River,  and  along  the  banks  of  this  river  for  eight 
miles,  when  we  encamped  on  a  large  island.  The 
bottoms  continued  low,  level,  and  extensive;  the 
plains  too  are  level ;  but  the  soil  of  neither  is  fertile, 
as  it  consists  of  a  light  colored  earth,  intermixed 
with  a  large  proportion  of  gravel ;  the  grass  in  both 
is  generally  about  nine  inches  high.  Captain  Lewis 
here  shot  a  large  and  remarkably  white  wolf. 

"  July  10,  we  set  out,  and  continued  through  a 
country  similar  to  that  of  yesterday,  with  bottoms 
of  wide-leafed  cottonwood  occasionally  along  the 
borders,  though  for  the  most  part  the  low  grounds 
are  without  timber.  In  the  plains  are  great  quanti- 
ties of  two  species  of  prickly  pear,  now  in  bloom. 
Gooseberries  of  the  common  red  kind  are  in  abun- 
dance and  just  beginning  to  ripen,  but  there  are  no 
currants.  The  river  had  now  widened  to  an  hun- 
dred yards;  is  deep,  crowded  with  islands,  and  in 
many  parts  rapid.  At  the  distance  of  seventeen 
miles,  the  timber  disappears  totally  from  the  river 
bottoms.  About  this  part  of  the  river,  the  wind, 
" which  had  blown  on  our  backs,  and  constantly  put 
the  elk  on  their  guard,  shifted  round,  and  we  then 
shot  three  of  them,  and  a  brown  bear.  Captain 
Lewis  halted  to  skin  them,  while  two  of  the  men 
took  the  pack-horses  forward  to  seek  for  an  encamp- 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        157 

ment.  It  was  nine  o'clock  before  he  overtook  them, 
at  the  distance  of  seven  miles  in  the  first  grove  of 
cottonwood.  They  had  been  pursued  as  they  came 
along  by  a  very  large  bear,  on  which  they  were 
afraid  to  fire,  lest  their  horses,  being  unaccustomed 
to  the  gun,  might  take  fright  and  throw  them. 
This  circumstance  reminds  us  of  the  ferocity  of  these 
animals,  when  we  were  last  near  this  place,  and  ad- 
monishes us  to  be  very  cautious.  We  saw  num- 
bers of  buffalo  below  us,  which  kept  up  a  dreadful 
bellowing  during  the  night.  With  all  our  exertions 
we  were  unable  to  advance  more  than  twenty-four 
miles,  owing  to  the  mire,  through  which  we  are 
obliged  to  travel,  in  consequence  of  the  rain. 

"July  13. — We  formed  our  camp  this  morning 
at  our  old  station,  near  the  head  of  the  Whitebear 
Islands,  and  immediately  went  to  work  in  making 
gear.  On  opening  the  cache,  we  found  the  bear- 
skins entirely  destroyed  by  the  water,  which,  in  a 
flood  of  the  river,  had  penetrated  to  them.  All  the 
specimens  of  plants  were  unfortunately  lost;  the 
chart  of  the  Missouri,  however,  still  remained  un- 
hurt, and  several  articles  contained  in  trunks  and 
boxes  had  suffered  but  little  injury;  but  a  vial  of 
laudanum  had  lost  its  stopper,  and  ran  into  a  drawer 
of  medicines,  which  it  spoiled  beyond  recovery. 
The  mosquitoes  have  been  so  troublesome  that  it 
was  impossible  even  to  write  without  the  assistance 
of  a  mosquito  bier.  The  buffalo  are  leaving  us  fast 
on  their  way  to  the  southeast. 

"  July  14. — We  continued  making  preparations 
for  transporting  our  articles,  and  as  the  old  deposit 


AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

was  too  damp,  we  secured  the  trunks  on  a  high  scaf- 
fold, covered  with  skins,  among  the  thick  brush  on 
a  large  island;  a  precaution  against  any  visit  from 
the  Indians,  should  they  arrive  before  the  main  party 
arrives  here.  The  carriage  wheels  were  in  good 
order,  and  the  iron  frame  of  the  boat  had  not  suf- 
fered materially.  The  buffalo  have  now  nearly  dis- 
appeared, leaving  behind  them  a  number  of  large 
wolves  who  are  now  prowling  about  us. 

"July  15. — To  our  great  joy  Drewyer  returned 
to-day  from  a  long  search  after  the  horses;  for  we 
had  concluded,  from  his  long  stay,  that  he  had  prob- 
ably met  with  a  bear,  and  with  his  usual  intrepidity 
attacked  the  animal,  in  which  case,  if  by  any  acci- 
dent he  should  be  separated  from  his  horse,  his  death 
would  be  almost  inevitable.  Under  this  impression, 
we  resolved  to  set  out  to-morrow  in  quest  of  him, 
when  his  return  relieved  us  from  our  apprehensions. 
He  had  searched  for  two  days  before  he  discovered 
that  the  horses  had  crossed  Dearborn's  River,  near 
a  spot  where  was  an  Indian  encampment,  which 
seemed  to  have  been  abandoned  about  the  time  the 
horses  were  stolen,  and  which  was  so  closely  con- 
cealed that  no  trace  of  a  horse  could  be  seen  within 
the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  He  crossed  the 
river  and  pursued  the  track  of  these  Indians  west- 
ward, till  his  horse  became  so  much  fatigued  that  he 
despaired  of  overtaking  them,  and  then  returned. 
These  Indians  we  supposed  to  be  a  party  of  Tushe- 
paws,  who  have  ventured  out  of  the  mountains  to 
hunt  buffalo.  During  the  day  we  were  engaged  in 
drying  meat  and  dressing  skins.  At  night,  M'Neal, 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        I$Q 

who  had  been  sent  in  the  morning  to  examine  the 
cache  at  the  lower  end  of  the  portage,  returned ;  but 
had  been  prevented  from  reaching  that  place  by  a 
singular  adventure.  Just  as  he  arrived  near  Willow 
Run,  he  approached  a  thicket  of  brush,  in  which  was 
a  white  bear,  which  he  did  not  discover  till  he  was 
within  ten  feet  of  him ;  his  horse  started,  and  wheel- 
ing suddenly  round,  threw  M'Neal  almost  immedi- 
ately under  the  bear,  who  started  up  instantly,  and 
finding  the  bear  .raising  himself  on  his  hind  feet  to 
attack  him,  struck  him  on  the  head  with  the  butt  end 
of  his  musket ;  the  blow  was  so  violent  that  ;t  broke 
the  breech  of  the  musket  and  knocked  the  bear  to  the 
ground,  and  before  he  recovered  M'Neal,  seeing  a 
willow  tree  close  by,  sprang  up,  and  there  remained 
while  the  bear  closely  guarded  the  foot  of  the  tree 
until  late  in  the  afternoon.  He  then  went  off,  and 
M'Neal  being  released  came  down,  and  having 
found  his  horse,  which  had  strayed  off  to  the  dis- 
tance of  two  miles,  returned  to  camp.  These  ani- 
mals are,  indeed,  of  a  most  extraordinary  ferocity, 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  wonder  that  in  all  our  en- 
counters we  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape. 
We  are  now  troubled  with  another  enemy,  not  quite 
so  dangerous,  though  even  more  disagreeable ;  these 
are  the  mosquitoes,  who  now  infest  us  in  such 
myriads  that  we  frequently  get  them  into  our 
throats  when  breathing,  and  the  dog  even  howls 
with  the  torture  they  occasion.  Having  now  ac- 
complished the  object  of  our  stay,  Captain  Lewis  de- 
termined to  leave  Sergeant  Gass  with  two  men  and 
four  horses  to  assist  the  party  who  are  expected  to 


l6o  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

carry  our  effects  over  the  portage,  whilst  he,  with 
Drewyer,  and  the  two  Fields,  with  six  horses,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  sources  of  Maria's  River.  Accord- 
ingly, early  in  the  morning, 

"  July  1 6,  Captain  Lewis  descended  in  a  skin 
canoe  to  the  lower  side  of  Medicine  River,  where  the 
horses  had  previously  been  sent,  and  then  rode  with 
his  party  to  the  fall  of  forty-seven  feet,  where  he 
halted  for  two  hours  to  dine,  and  took  a  sketch  of 
the  fall.  In  the  afternoon  they  proceeded  to  the 
great  falls,  near  which  they  slept  under  a  shelving 
rock,  with  a  happy  exemption  from  mosquitoes. 
These  falls  have  lost  much  of  their  grandeur  since 
we  saw  them,  the  river  being  much  lower  now  than 
at  that  time,  though  they  still  form  a  most  sublime 
spectacle.  As  we  came  along,  we  met  several  white 
bear,  but  they  did  not  venture  to  attack  us.  There 
were  but  few  buffalo,  however,  the  large  having 
principally  passed  the  river,  directed  their  course 
downwards.  There  are,  as  usual,  great  numbers  of 
goats  and  antelopes  dispersed  through  the  plains, 
and  large  flocks  of  geese,  which  raise  their  young 
about  the  entrance  of  Medicine  River.  We  observe 
here  also  the  cuckoo,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
the  raincraw,  a  bird  which  is  not  known  either 
within  or  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

"July  17. — After  making  a  second  sketch  of  the 
falls,  Captain  Lewis  directed  his  course  north  ten 
degrees  west,  with  an  intention  of  striking  Maria's 
River  at  the  point  to  which  he  had  ascended  it  in 
1804.  The  country  is  here  spread  into  wide  and 
level  plains,  swelling  like  the  ocean,  in  which  the 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        l6l 

view  is  uninterrupted  by  a  single  tree  or  shrub,  and 
is  diversified  only  by  the  moving  herds  of  buffalo." 

On  the  journey,  both  parties  fell  in  with  game  by 
the  way,  and  so  were  relieved  from  the  chief  source 
of  what  had  been  their  recent  anxieties.  So  abun- 
dant was  the  game  now,  that  vast  herds  of  buffalo 
were  passed,  besides  antelope  and  hares;  while  we 
are  told  that  wolves  were  so  plentiful  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  the  party  could  keep  them  at  a 
distance  from  their  flanks.  On  their  passage,  the 
dreaded  Minnetarees  were  encountered,  the  un- 
friendliness of  whom  occasioned  Captain  Lewis  not 
a  little  anxiety  and  some  trouble.  With  this  excep- 
tion, which,  however,  was  a  serious  one,  as  one  of 
the  tribe  was  shot  in  an  encounter  with  them,  and 
Captain  Lewis,  in  the  struggle,  was  wounded,  not 
much  in  the  way  of  incident  happened.  The  en- 
counter with  the  rascally  Minnetarees  (of  Fort  de 
Prairie),  which  took  place  about  the  end  of  July, 
had  for  its  scene  the  banks  of  the  Maria  River,  down 
which  the  Lewis  party  was  proceeding,  with  one  of 
their  number  (Drewyer)  exploring  the  opposite 
banks.  Here  is  the  account  in  the  "  Journal  "  of  the 
rencontre : 

"  At  the  distance  of  three  miles,  we  ascended  the 
hills  close  to  the  river  side,  while  Drewyer  pursued 
the  valley  of  the  river  on  the  opposite  side.  But 
scarcely  had  Captain  Lewis  reached  the  high  plain, 
when  he  saw  about  a  mile  on  his  left,  a  collection  of 
about  thirty  horses.  He  immediately  halted,  and  by 
the  aid  of  his  spy-glass  discovered  that  one-half  of 
the  horses  were  saddled,  and  that  on  the  eminence 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V.  —  II 


l62  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

above  the  horses,  several  Indians  were  looking  down 
towards  the  river,  probably  at  Drewyer.  This  was 
a  most  unwelcome  sight.  Their  probable  numbers 
rendered  any  contest  with  them  of  doubtful  issue ;  to 
attempt  to  escape  would  only  invite  pursuit,  and  our 
horses  were  so  bad  that  we  must  certainly  be  over- 
taken; besides  which,,  Drewyer  could  not  yet  be 
aware  that  the  Indians  were  near,  and  if  we  ran  he 
would  most  probably  be  sacrificed.  We  therefore 
determined  to  make  the  best  of  our  situation,  and 
advance  towards  them  in  a  friendly  manner.  The 
flag  which  we  had  brought  in  case  of  any  such  acci- 
dent was  therefore  displayed,  and  we  continued 
slowly  our  march  towards  them.  Their  whole  at- 
tention was  so  engaged  by  Drewyer,  that  they  did 
not  immediately  discover  us.  As  soon  as  they  did 
see  us,  they  appeared  to  be  much  alarmed  and  ran 
about  in  confusion,  and  some  of  them  came  down 
the  hill  and  drove  their  horses  within  gunshot  of  the 
eminence,  to  which  they  then  returned,  as  if  to  wait 
our  arrival.  When  we  came  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  one  of  the  Indians  mounted  and  rode  at  full 
speed  to  receive  us ;  but  here,  within  a  hundred  paces 
of  us,  he  halted,  and  Captain  Lewis,  who  had 
alighted  to  receive  him,  held  out  his  hand,  and  beck- 
oned to  him  to  approach.  He  only  looked  at  us  for 
some  time,  and  then,  without  saying  a  word,  re- 
turned to  his  companions  with  as  much  haste  as  he 
had  advanced.  The  whole  party  now  descended  the 
hill  and  rode  towards  us.  ...  When  the  two 
parties  came  within  a  hundred  yards  of  each  other, 
all  the  Indians,  except  one,  halted;  Captain  Lewis 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        163 

therefore  ordered  his  two  men  to  halt  while  he  ad- 
vanced, and  after  shaking  hands  with  the  Indian, 
went  on  and  did  the  same  with  the  others  in  the  rear, 
while  the  Indian  himself  shook  hands  with  the  two 
men.  They  all  now  came  up,  and  after  alighting, 
the  Indians  asked  to  smoke  with  us.  Captain 
Lewis,  who  was  very  anxious  for  Drewyer's  safety, 
told  him  that  the  man  who  had  gone  down  the  river 
had  the  pipe,  and  requested  that,  as  they  had  seen 
him,  one  of  them  would  accompany  R.  Fields  to 
bring  him  back.  To  this  they  assented,  and  Fields 
went  with  a  young  man  in  search  of  Drewyer. 
Captain  Lewis  now  asked  them  by  signs  if  they  were 
the  Minnetarees  of  the  north,  and  was  sorry  to  learn 
by  their  answers  that  his  suspicion  was  too  true.  .  .  . 
"  As  it  was  growing  late  Captain  Lewis  proposed 
that  they  should  encamp  together  near  the  river ;  for 
he  was  glad  to  see  them  and  had  a  great  deal  to  say 
to  them.  They  assented ;  and  being  soon  joined  by 
Drewyer,  we  proceeded  towards  the  river,  and  after 
descending  a  very  steep  bluff,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  high,  encamped  in  a  small  bottom.  Here  the 
Indians  formed  a  large  semicircular  tent  of  dressed 
buffalo  skins,  in  which  the  two  parties  assembled, 
and  by  the  means  of  Drewyer,  the  evening  was  spent 
in  conversation  with  the  Indians.  They  informed 
us  that  they  were  a  part  of  a  large  band  which  at 
present  lay  encamped  on  the  main  branch  of  Maria's 
River,  near  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
at  the  distance  of  a  day  and  a  half's  journey  from 
this  place.  .  .  .  Captain  Lewis  in  turn  informed 
them  that  he  had  come  from  a  great  distance  up  the 


164  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

large  river  ^hich  runs  towards  the  rising  sun;  that 
he  had  been  as  far  as  the  great  lake  where  the  sun 
sets ;  that  he  had  seen  many  nations,  the  greater  part 
of  whom  were  at  war  with  each  other,  but  by  his 
mediation  were  restored  to  peace;  and  all  had  been 
invited  to  come  and  trade  with  him  west  of  the 
mountains;  he  was  now  on  his  way  home,  but  had 
left  his  companions  at  the  falls,  and  come  in  search 
of  the  Minnetarees,  in  hopes  of  inducing  them  to 
live  at  peace  with  their  neighbors,  and  to  visit  the 
trading  houses  which  would  be  formed  at  the  en- 
trance of  Maria's  River.  They  said  that  they  were 
anxious  of  being  at  peace  with  the  Tushepaws,  but 
those  people  had  lately  killed  a  number  of  their  rela- 
tions, as  they  proved  by  showing  several  of  the  party 
who  had  their  hair  cut  as  a  sign  of  mourning. 
They  were  equally  willing,  they  added,  to  come 
down  and  trade  with  us.  Captain  Lewis  therefore 
proposed  that  they  should  send  some  of  their  young 
men  to  invite  all  their  band  to  meet  us  at  the  mouth 
of  Maria's  River,  and  the  rest  of  the  party  to  go 
with  us  to  that  place,  where  he  hoped  to  find  his 
men,  offering  them  ten  horses  and  some  tobacco  in 
case  they  would  accompany  us.  To  this  they  made 
no  reply.  Finding  them  very  fond  of  the  pipe,  Cap- 
tain Lewis,  who  was  desirous  of  keeping  a  constant 
watch  during  the  night,  smoked  with  them  until  a 
late  hour,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  all  asleep,  he 
woke  R.  Fields,  and  ordering  him  to  rouse  us  all  in 
case  any  Indian  left  the  camp,  as  they  would  prob- 
ably attempt  to  steal  our  horses,  he  lay  down  by  the 
side  of  Drewyer  in  the  tent  with  all  the  Indians, 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        165 

while  the  two  Fields  were  stretched  near  the  fire  at 
the  mouth  of  it.     At  sunrise, 

"July  27,  the  Indians  got  up  and  crowded  round 
the  fire  near  which  J.  Fields,  who  was  then  on  watch, 
had  carelessly  left  his  rifle,  near  the  head  of  his 
brother,  who  was  still  asleep.  One  of  the  Indians 
slipped  behind  him,  and,  unperceived,  took  his 
brother's  and  his  own  rifle,  while  at  the  same  time, 
two  others  seized  those  of  Drewyer  and  Captain 
Lewis.  As  soon  as  Fields  turned  round,  he  saw  the 
Indian  running  off  with  the  rifles,  and  instantly  call- 
ing his  brother,  they  pursued  him  for  fifty  or  sixty 
yards,  and  just  as  they  overtook  him,  in  the  scuffle 
for  the  rifles,  R.  Fields  stabbed  him  through  the 
heart  with  his  knife;  the  Indian  ran  about  fifteen 
steps  and  fell  dead.  They  now  ran  back  with  their 
rifles  to  the  camp.  The  moment  the  fellow  touched 
his  gun,  Drewyer,  who  was  awake,  jumped  up  and 
wrested  her  from  him.  The  noise  awoke  Captain 
Lewis,  who  instantly  started  from  the  ground  and 
reached  to  seize  his  gun,  but  finding  her  gone,  drew 
a  pistol  from  his  belt  and  turning  about  saw  the 
Indian  running  off  with  her.  He  followed  him  and 
ordered  him  to  lay  her  down,  which  he  was  doing 
just  as  the  Fields  came  up,  and  were  taking  aim  to 
shoot  him,  when  Captain  Lewis  ordered  them  not  to 
fire,  as  the  Indian  did  not  appear  to  intend  any  mis- 
chief. He  dropped  the  gun  and  was  going  slowly 
off  as  Drewyer  came  out  and  asked  permission  to 
kill  him,  but  this  Captain  Lewis  forbid,  as  he  had  not 
yet  attempted  to  shoot  us.  But  finding  that  the 
Indians  were  now  endeavoring  to  drive  off  all  the 


1 66  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

horses,  he  ordered  three  of  them  to  follow  the  main 
party  who  were  chasing  the  horses  up  the  river,  and 
fire  instantly  upon  the  thieves;  while  he,  without 
taking  time  to  run  for  his  shot-pouch,  pursued  the 
fellow  who  had  stolen  his  gun  and  another  Indian, 
Who  were  driving  away  the  horses  on  the  left  of  the 
camp.  He  pressed  them  so  closely  that  they  left 
twelve  of  their  horses,  but  continued  to  drive  off  one 
of  our  own.  At  the  distance  of  three  hundred  paces 
they  entered  a  steep  niche  in  the  river  bluffs,  when 
Captain  Lewis,  being  too  much  out  of  breath  to  pur- 
sue them  any  further,  called  out,  as  he  did  several 
times  before,  that  unless  they  gave  up  the  horse  he 
would  shoot  them.  As  he  raised  his  gun  one  of  the 
Indians  jumped  behind  a  rock  and  spoke  to  the  other, 
who  stopped  at  the  distance  of  thirty  paces,  as  Cap- 
tain Lewis  shot  him  in  the  belly.  He  fell  on  his 
knees  and  right  elbow,  but  raising  himself  a  little, 
fired,  and  then  crawled  behind  a  rock.  The  shot 
had  nearly  been  fatal,  for  Captain  Lewis,  who  was 
bareheaded,  felt  the  wind  of  the  ball  very  distinctly. 
Not  having  his  shot-pouch,  he  could  not  reload  his 
rifle,  and  having  only  a  single  load  also  for  his  pis- 
tol, he  thought  it  most  prudent  not  to  attack  the 
Indians,  and  therefore  retired  slowly  to  the  camp. 
He  was  met  by  Drewyer,  who  hearing  the  report  of 
the  guns,  had  come  to  his  assistance,  leaving  the 
Fields  to  pursue  the  Indians.  Captain  Lewis  or- 
dered him  to  call  out  to  them  to  desist  from  the  pur- 
suit, as  we  could  take  the  horses  of  the  Indians  in 
place  of  our  own,  but  they  were  at  too  great  a  dis- 
tance to  hear  him.  He  therefore  returned  to  the 


THE  LEWIS  AND   'CLARK  EXPEDITION        1 67 

camp,  and  whilst  he  was  saddling  the  horses,  the 
Fields  returned  with  four  of  our  own,  having  fol- 
lowed the  Indians  until  two  of  them  swam  the  river, 
two  others  ascended  the  hills,  so  that  the  horses  be- 
came dispersed.  We,  however,  were  rather  gainers 
by  this  contest,  for  we  took  four  of  the  Indian 
horses,  and  lost  only  one  of  our  own.  .  .  .  We 
had  no  doubt  but  that  we  should  be  immediately 
pursued  by  a  much  larger  party,  and  that  as  soon  as 
intelligence  was  given  to  the  band  near  the  Broken 
Mountains,  they  would  hasten  to  the  mouth  of 
Maria's  River  to  intercept  us.  We  hope,  however, 
to  be  there  before  them,  so  as  to  form  a  junction 
with  our  friends.  We  therefore  pushed  our  horses 
as  fast  as  we  possibly  could.  ...  At  three 
o'clock  we  reached  Rose  River,  five  miles  above 
where  we  had  formerly  passed  it,  and  having  now 
come  by  estimate  sixty-three  miles,  halted  for  an 
hour  and  a  half  to  refresh  our  horses ;  then  pursued 
our  journey  seventeen  miles  further,  when,  as  the 
night  came  on,  we  killed  a  buffalo,  and  again  stopped 
for  two  hours.  The  sky  was  now  overclouded,  but 
as  the  moon  gave  light  enough  to  show  us  the  route, 
we  continued,  along  through  immense  herds  of 
buffalo  for  twenty  miles,  and  then  almost  exhausted 
with  fatigue,  halted  at  two  in  the  morning, 

"  July  28,  to  rest  ourselves  and  the  horses.  At 
daylight  we  awoke  sore  and  scarcely  able  to  stand; 
but  as  our  own  lives  as  well  as  those  of  our  com- 
panions depended  on  our  pressing  forward,  we 
mounted  our  horses  and  set  out.  The  men  were  de- 
sirous of  crossing  the  Missouri,  at  the  Grog  Spring, 


168  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

where  Rose  River  approaches  so  near  the  river,  and 
passing  down  the  southwest  side  of  it,  and  thus 
avoid  the  country  at  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers, 
through  which  the  enemy  would  most  probably  pur- 
sue us.  But  as  this  circuitous  route  would  consume 
the  whole  day,  and  the  Indians  might  in  the  mean- 
time attack  the  canoes  at  the  point,  Captain  Lewis 
told  his  party  it  was  now  their  duty  to  risk  their  lives 
for  their  friends  and  companions ;  that  he  would  pro- 
ceed immediately  to  the  point,  to  give  the  alarm  to 
the  canoes,  and  if  they  had  not  yet  arrived,  he  would 
raft  the  Missouri,  and  after  hiding  the  baggage, 
ascend  the  river  on  foot  through  the  woods  till  he 
met  them.  He  told  them  also  that  it  was  his  deter- 
mination, in  case  they  were  attacked  in  crossing  the 
plains,  to  tie  the  bridles  of  the  horses  and  stand  to- 
gether till  they  had  either  routed  -their  enemies,  or 
sold  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible.  To  this  they 
all  assented,  and  we  therefore  continued  our  route  to 
the  eastward,  till  at  the  distance  of  twelve  miles  we 
came  near  the  Missouri,  when  we  heard  a  noise 
which  seemed  like  the  report  of  a  gun.  We  there- 
fore quickened  our  pace  for  eight  miles  further,  and 
about  five  miles  from  the  Grog  Spring,  now  heard 
distinctly  the  noise  of  several  rifles  from  the 
river.  We  hurried  to  the  bank,  and  saw  with 
exquisite  satisfaction  our  friends  coming  down  the 
river.  They  landed  to  greet  us,  and  after  turning 
our  horses  loose,  we  embarked  with  our  baggage, 
and  went  down  to  the  spot  where  we  had  made  a 
deposit  This?,  after  reconnoitring  the  adjacent 
country,  we  opened ;  but  unfortunately  the  cache  had 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        169 

caved  in,  and  most  of  the  articles  were  injured.  We 
took  whatever  was  still  worth  preserving,  and  imme- 
diately proceeded  to  the  point,  where  we  found  our 
deposits  in  good  order.  By  a  singular  good  fortune 
we  were  here  joined  by  Sergeant  Gass  and  Willard 
from  the  falls,  who  had  been  ordered  to  bring  the 
horses  here,  to  assist  in  collecting  meat  for  the  voy- 
age, as  it  had  been  calculated  that  the  canoes  would 
reach  this  place  much  sooner  than  Captain  Lewis's 
party.  After  a  very  heavy  shower  of  rain  and  hail, 
attended  with  violent  thunder  and  lightning,  we  left 
the  point,  and  giving  a  final  discharge  to  our  horses, 
went  over  to  the  island  where  we  had  left  our  red 
pirogue,  which  however  we  found  so  much  decayed 
that  we  had  no  means  of  repairing  her;  we,  there- 
fore, took  all  the  iron  work  out  of  her,  and  proceeded 
down  the  river  fifteen  miles,  and  encamped  near 
some  cottonwood  trees,  one  of  which  was  of  the  nar- 
row-leafed kind,  and  the  first  of  that  species  we 
had  remarked  as  we  ascended  the  river." 

While  these  incidents  were  happening,  Captain 
Clark  and  his  party  had  made  their  way  to  the  Jef- 
ferson, and,  pushing  down  the  latter  river  and  the 
Missouri  into  which  it  falls,  succeeded  in  effecting  a 
junction  with  the  Lewis  contingent  and  in  time  to 
reinforce  it  against  the  Indians  that  had  menaced  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  LAST  OF  A  LONG  JOURNEY 

THE  force  now  reunited  on  the  Missouri,  a  little 
below  the  junction  of  the  Yellowstone,  lost  no  time 
in  proceeding  on  its  way  homewards.  On  reaching 
their  old  friends  the  Mandans  (August  14),  the  Ex- 
pedition found  that  tribe  and  the  Minnetarees  at  war 
with  the  Ricaras,  while  the  Assiniboines  of  the  north 
were  at  strife  with  the  Mandans.  They  received  a 
hearty  welcome,  however,  from  the  latter,  but  were 
unsuccessful  in  their  efforts  to  reconcile  the  warring 
tribes,  and  so  smoked  the  peace-pipe  with  them  and 
continued  their  voyage  down  the  river.  Under 
safer  and  pleasanter  circumstances,  the  explorers 
pushed  on  towards  civilization,  all  of  the  Expedition 
members  being  hungry  for  home  news,  as  well  as  for 
reunion  with  their  respective  families. 

The  "  Journal "  of  the  Expedition,  at  this  point, 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  Yellowstone 
River  and  of  its  favorable  site  for  trade.  The  party, 
it  will  be  seen,  was  much  annoyed  by  mosquitoes, 
and  it  also  was  a  sufferer  by  the  depredations  of  the 
Indians,  in  having  stolen  the  horses,  which  neces- 
sitated the  construction  of  extemporized  canoes, 
made  of  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  for  the  voyage  down 
the  Yellowstone.  The  extract,  which  is  here  ap- 

170 


THE  LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION 

pended,  closes  by  an  account  of  the  meeting  of  two 
white  men,  hunters  on  the  river,  from  whom  the  Ex- 
pedition learned  some  welcome  news  of  the  outer 
world,  with  some  information  of  Indian  wars  which 
was  not  so  welcome  to  the  party  leaders. 

"  The  Roche jaune,  or  Yellowstone  River,  accord- 
ing to  Indian  information,  has  its  remote  sources  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  near  the  peaks  of  the  Rio  del 
Norde,  on  the  confines  of  New  Mexico,  to  which 
country  there  is  a  good  road  during  the  whole  dis- 
tance along  the  banks  of  the  Yellowstone.  Its  west- 
ern waters  are  probably  connected  with  those  of 
Lewis's  River,  while  the  eastern  branches  approach 
the  heads  of  Clark's  River,  the  Bighorn,  and  the 
Platte;  so  that  it  waters  the  middle  portion  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  for  several  hundred  miles  from 
northwest  to  southeast.  During  its  whole  course 
from  the  point  at  which  Captain  Clark  reached  it  to 
the  Missouri,  a  distance  which  he  computed  at  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  miles,  this  river  is  large 
and  navigable  for  pirogues,  and  even  batteaux, 
there  being  none  of  the  moving  sandbars  which  im- 
pede the  navigation  of  the  Missouri,  and  only  a  sin- 
gle ledge  of  rocks,  which,  however,  is  not  difficult  to 
pass.  Even  its  tributary  waters,  the  Bighorn, 
Clark's  fork,  and  Tongue  River,  may  be  ascended  in 
boats  for  a  considerable  distance.  The  banks  of  the 
river  are  low,  but  bold,  and  nowhere  subject  to  be 
overflowed,  except  for  a  short  distance  below  the 
mountains.  The  predominating  color  of  the  river  is 
a  yellowish-brown;  that  of  the  Missouri,  which  pos- 
sesses more  mud,  is  of  a  deep  drab  color;  the  bed  of 


AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  former  being  chiefly  composed  of  loose  pebble; 
which,  however,  diminish  in  size  in  descending  the 
river,  till  after  passing  the  Lazeka,  the  pebble  cease 
as  the  river  widens,  and  the  mud  and  sand  continue 
to  form  the  greater  part  of  the  bottom.  Over  these 
the  water  flows  with  a  velocity  constantly  and  almost 
equally  decreasing  in  proportion  to  its  distance  from 
the  mountains.  From  the  mountains  to  Clark's  fork, 
the  current  may  be  estimated  at  four  and  a  half 
miles  per  hour ;  thence  as  low  as  the  Bighorn,  at  three 
and  a  half  miles;  between  that  and  the  Lazeka  at 
three  miles;  and  from  that  river  to  the  Wolf  rapid, 
at  two  and  three-quarter  miles;  from  which  to  its 
entrance,  the  general  rapidity  is  two  miles  per  hour. 
The  appearance  and  character  of  the  country  present 
nearly  similar  varieties  of  fertile,  rich,  open  lands. 
Above  Clark's  fork,  it  consists  of  high  waving  plains 
bordered  by  stony  hills,  partially  supplied  with  pine ; 
the  middle  portion,  as  low  as  the  Buffalo  shoals,  con- 
tains less  timber,  and  the  number  diminishes  still 
lower,  where  the  river  widens,  and  the  country 
spreads  itself  into  extensive  plains.  Like  all  the 
branches  of  the  Missouri  which  penetrate  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  Yellowstone  and  its  streams,  within 
that  district  of  country  beyond  Clark's  fork,  abound 
in  beaver  and  otter;  a  circumstance  which  strongly 
recommends  the  entrance  of  the  latter  river  as  a  judi- 
cious position  for  the  purposes  of  trade.  To  an  es- 
tablishment at  that  place,  the  Shoshones,  both  with- 
in and  westward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  would 
willingly  resort,  as  they  would  be  farther  from  the 
reach  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians,  and  the  Minnetarees 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        1 73 

of  Fort  de  Prairie,  than  they  could  be  in  trading  with 
any  factories  on  the  Missouri.  The  same  motive  of 
personal  safety,  would  most  probably  induce  many 
of  the  tribes  on  the  Columbia  and  Lewis's  River  to 
prefer  this  place  to  the  entrance  of  Maria's  River,  at 
least  for  some  years;  and  as  the  Crow  and  Paunch 
Indians,  the  Castahanahs,  and  the  Indians  residing 
south  of  Clark's  fork,  would  also  be  induced  to  visit 
it,  the  mouth  of  that  river  might  be  considered  as  one 
of  the  most  important  establishments  for  the  western 
fur  trade.  This  too  may  be  the  more  easily  effected, 
as  the  adjacent  country  possesses  a  sufficiency  of 
timber  for  the  purpose,  an  advantage  which  is  not 
found  on  any  spot  between  Clark's  Fork  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

"  August  4. — The  camp  became  absolutely  unin- 
habitable, in  consequence  of  the  multitude  of  mos- 
quitoes ;  the  men  could  not  work  in  preparing  skins 
for  clothing,  nor  hunt  in  the  timbered  low  grounds ; 
in  short,  there  was  no  mode  of  escape,  except  by 
going  on  the  sandbars  in  the  river;  where, if  the  wind 
should  blow,  the  insects  do  not  venture;  but  When 
there  is  no  wind,  and  particularly  at  night,  when  the 
men  have  no  covering  except  their  worn-out  blankets, 
the  pain  they  suffer  is  scarcely  to  be  endured.  There 
was  also  a  want  of  meat,  for  the  buffalo  were  not  to 
be  found ;  and  though  the  elk  are  very  abundant,  yet 
their  fat  and  flesh  is  more  difficult  to  dry  in  the  sun, 
and  is  also  much  more  easily  spoiled  than  the  meat 
or  fat  of  either  deer  or  buffalo.  Captain  Clark  there- 
fore determined  to  go  on  to  some  spot  which  should 
be  free  from  mosquitoes,  and  furnish  more  game. 


174  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

After  having  written  a  note  to  Captain  Lewis,  to 
inform  him  of  his  intention,  and  stuck  it  on  a  pole, 
at  the  confluence  of  the  two  rivers,  he  loaded  the 
canoes  at  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  proceeded  down 
the  river  to  the  second  point  and  encamped  on  a 
sandbar ;  but  here  the  mosquitoes  seemed  to  be  even 
more  numerous  than  above.  The  face  of  the  Indian 
child  is  considerably  puffed  up  and  swollen  with  the 
bites  of  these  animals,  nor  could  the  men  procure 
scarcely  any  sleep  during  the  night,  and  they  con- 
tinued to  harass  them  the  next  morning, 

"  August  5,  as  they  proceeded.  On  one  occasion 
Captain  Clark  went  on  shore  and  ascended  a  hill 
after  one  of  the  bighorns ;  but  the  mosquitoes  were 
in  such  multitudes  that  he  could  not  keep  them  from 
the  barrel  of  his  rifle  long  enough  to  take  aim. 
About  ten  o'clock,  however,  a  light  breeze  sprung  up 
from  the  northwest,  and  dispersed  them  in  some  de- 
gree. Captain  Clark  then  landed  on  a  sandbar,  in- 
tending to  wait  for  Captain  Lewis,  and  went  out  to 
hunt.  But  not  finding  any  buffalo,  he  again  pro- 
ceeded in  the  afternoon,  and  having  killed  a  large 
white  bear,  encamped  under  a  high  bluff  exposed  to 
a  light  breeze  from  the  southwest,  which  blew  away 
the  mosquitoes.  About  eleven  o'clock,  however,  the 
wind  became  very  high  and  a  storm  of  rain  came  on, 
which  lasted  for  two  hours,  accompanied  with  sharp 
lightning  and  loud  peals  of  thunder. 

tc  August  8,  Sergeant  Pryor,  accompanied  by 
Shannon,  Hall,  and  Windsor,  arrived,  but  without 
the  horses.  They  reported  that  on  the  second  day 
after  they  left  Captain  Clark,  they  halted  to  let  the 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION       1/5 

horses  graze  near  the  bed  of  a  large  .creek,  which  con- 
tained no  running  water ;  but  soon  after  a  shower  of 
rain  fell,  and  the  creek  swelled  so  suddenly,  that 
several  horses  which  had  straggled  across  the  dry 
bed  of  the  creek,  were  obliged  to  swim  back.  They 
now  determined  to  form  their  camp;  but  the  next 
morning  were  astonished  at  not  being  able  to  find  a 
single  one  of  their  horses.  They  immediately  ex- 
amined the  neighborhood,  and  soon  finding  the  track 
of  the  Indians  who  had  stolen  the  horses,  pursued 
them  for  five  miles,  where  the  fugitives  divided  into 
two  parties.  They  now  followed  the  largest  party 
five  miles  further,  till  they  lost  all  hopes  of  overtak- 
ing the  Indians,  and  returned  to  the  camp;  and 
packing  the  baggage  on  their  backs,  pursued  a  north- 
east course  towards  the  Yellowstone.  On  the  follow- 
ing night  a  wolf  bit  Sergeant  Pryor  through  the 
hand  as  he  lay  asleep,  and  made  an  attempt  to  seize 
Windsor,  when  Shannon  discovered  and  shot  him. 
They  passed  over  a  broken  open  country,  and  having 
reached  the  Yellowstone  near  Pompey's  pillar,  they 
determined  to  descend  the  river,  and  for  this  purpose 
made  two  skin  canoes,  such  as  they  had  seen  among 
the  Mandans  and  Ricaras.  They  are  made  in  the 
following  manner: — Two  sticks  of  an  inch  and  a 
quarter  in  diameter  are  tied  together  so  as  to  form  a 
round  hoop,  which  serves  for  the  brim,  while  a  sec- 
ond hoop,  for  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  is  made  in  the 
same  way,  and  both  secured  by  sticks  of  the  same 
size  from  the  sides  of  the  hoops,  fastened  by  thongs 
at  the  edges  of  the  hoops  and  at  the  interstices  of  the 
sticks ;  over  this  frame  the  skin  is  drawn  closely  and 


1/6  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

tied  with  thongs,  so  as  to  form  a  perfect  basin,  seven 
feet  and  three  inches  in  diameter,  sixteen  inches 
deep,  and  with  sixteen  ribs  or  cross-sticks,  and  capa- 
ble of  carrying  six  or  eight  men  with  their  loads. 
Being  unacquainted  with  the  river,  they  thought  it 
most  prudent  to  divide  their  guns  and  ammunition, 
so  that  in  case  of  accident  all  might  not  be  lost,  and 
therefore  built  two  canoes.  In  these  frail  vessels 
they  embarked,  and  were  surprised  at  the  perfect 
security  in  which  they  passed  through  the  most  diffi- 
cult shoals  and  rapids  of  the  river,  without  ever  tak- 
ing in  water,  even  during  the  highest  winds. 

"  In  passing  the  confluence  of  the  Yellowstone  and 
Missouri,  he  took  down  the  note  from  the  pole,  sup- 
posing that  Captain  Lewis  had  passed;  and  now 
learning  where  the  party  was,  pressed  on  in  the  skin 
canoes  to  join  them.  The  day  was  spent  in  hunting, 
so  as  to  procure  a  number  of  skins  to  trade  with  the 
Mandans;  for  having  now  neither  horses  nor  mer- 
chandise, our  only  resort  in  order  to  obtain  corn  and 
beans,  is  a  stock  of  skins,  which  those  Indians  very 
much  admire. 

"  August  9. — A  heavy  dew  fell  this  morning. 
Captain  Clark  now  proceeded  slowly  down  the  river, 
hunting  through  the  low  grounds  in  the  neighbor- 
hood after  the  deer  and  elk,  till  late  in  the  afternoon 
he  encamped  on  the  southeast  side.  Here  they  re- 
mained during  the  next  day, 

"  August  10,  attempting  to  dry  the  meat,  while 
the  hunters  were  all  abroad;  but  they  could  obtain 
nothing  except  an  antelope  and  one  black-tailed  deer ; 
those  animals  being  very  scarce  on  this  part  of  the 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        177 

river.  In  the  low  grounds  of  the  river  Captain  Clark 
found  to-day  a  species  of  cherry  which  he  had  never 
seen  before,  and  which  seems  peculiar  to  this  small 
district  of  country,  though  even  there  it  is  not  very 
abundant. 

"  The  men  also  dug  up  quantities  of  a  large  and 
very  insipid  root,  called  by  the  Indians  hankee,  and 
by  the  engagees,  the  white  apple.  It  is  used  by  them 
in  a  dry  and  pounded  state,  so  as  to  mix  with  their 
soup;  but  our  men  boil  it  and  eat  it  with  meat.  In 
descending  the  river  yesterday,  the  squaw  brought 
in  a  large  well-flavored  gooseberry,  of  a  rich  crimson 
color ;  and  a  deep  purple  berry  of  a  species  of  currant, 
common  on  this  river  as  low  as  the  Mandans,  and 
called  by  the  engagees  the  Indian  currant. 

"August  ii. — The  next  morning  Captain  Clark 
set  out  early,  and  landed  on  a  sandbar  about  ten 
o'clock  for  the  purpose  of  taking  breakfast  and  dry- 
ing the  meat.  At  noon  they  proceeded  on  about  two 
miles,  when  they  observed  a  canoe  near  the  shore. 
They  immediately  landed,  and  were  equally  sur- 
prised and  pleased  at  discovering  two  men,  by  the 
names  of  Dickson  and  Hancock,  who  had  come  from 
the  Illinois  on  a  hunting  excursion  up  the  Yellow- 
stone. They  had  left  the  Illinois  in  the  summer  of 
1804,  and  had  spent  the  last  winter  with  the  Tetons, 
in  company  with  a  Mr.  Ceautoin,  who  had  come 
there  as  a  trader,  but  whom  they  had  robbed,  or 
rather  they  had  taken  all  his  merchandise  and  given 
him  a  few  robes  in  exchange.  These  men  had  met 
the  boat  which  we  had  despatched  from  Fort  Man- 
dan,  on  board  of  which  they  were  told  there  was  a 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V.  —  12 


178  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

Ricara  chief  on  his  way  to  Washington;  and  also 
another  party  of  Yankton  chiefs,  accompanying  Mr. 
Durion  on  a  visit  of  the  same  kind.  We  were  sorry 
to  learn  that  the  Mandans  and  Minnetarees  were  at 
war  with  the  Ricaras,  and  had  killed  two  of  them. 
The  Assiniboins  too,  are  at  war  with  the  Mandans. 
They  have,  in  consequence,  prohibited  the  North- 
western Company  from  trading  to  the  Missouri,  and 
even  killed  two  of  their  traders  near  the  Mouse 
River,  and  are  now  lying  in  wait  for  Mr.  M'Kenzie 
of  the  Northwestern  Company,  who  had  been  for  a 
long  time  among  the  Minnetarees.  These  appear- 
ances are  rather  unfavorable  to  the  project  of  carry- 
ing some  of  the  chiefs  to  the  United  States ;  but  we 
still  hope  that,  by  effecting  a  peace  between  the  Man- 
dans,  Minnetarees,  and  Ricaras,  the  views  of  our 
government  may  be  accomplished. 

"  After  leaving  these  trappers,  Captain  Clark  went 
on  and  encamped  nearly  opposite  the  entrance  of 
Goatpen  Creek,  where  the  party  were  again  assailed 
by  their  old  enemies,  the  mosquitoes." 

After  pushing  through  the  country  of  the  Tetons, 
among  whom  they  did  not  linger,  the  returning  ex- 
plorers began  now  to  meet  whites  by  the  way,  and 
occasional  trading  parties,  from  whom  they  learned 
something  of  what  had  happened  in  the  east  during 
their  long  absence.  After  so  long  an  interval,  the 
sight  of  anyone  who  could  give  them  information 
of  what  had  transpired  at  home  was,  as  the  Journal 
relates,  peculiarly  delightful.  Of  one  item  of  news 
they  heard  with  manifest  interest,  namely,  that  in 
the  United  States  the  Expedition  party  had  been 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        1/9 

given  up  for  lost,  "  people  generally  believing  that 
they  never  would  be  heard  of  again,"  though  Presi- 
dent Jefferson,  it  was  reported,  had  hopes  of  once 
more  seeing  them.  Ere  this,  we  should  have  men- 
tioned the  fact,  that  at  the  Mandan  villages,  among 
their  local  allies  the  Minnetarees,  one  of  whose 
neighbor  chiefs,  ("  Big- white  "),  with  his  wife  and 
son,  was  to  accompany  the  Expedition  leaders  to 
Washington,  the  explorers  parted  with  the  faithful 
squaw,  Sacajawea,  her  child,  and  French  interpreter 
husband  (Chaboneau).  Of  this  incident,  an  entry 
in  the  "Journal,"  under  date  August  17,  preserves 
the  record.  It  is  as  follows : 

"  The  principal  chiefs  of  the  Minnetarees  came 
down  to  bid  us  farewell,  as  none  of  them  could  be  pre- 
vailed to  go  on  with  us.  This  circumstance  induced 
our  interpreter,  Chaboneau,  with  his  wife  and  child, 
to  remain  here,  as  he  could  be  no  longer  useful ;  and 
notwithstanding  our  offer  to  take  him  with  us  to 
the  United  States,  he  said  that  he  had  there  no  ac- 
quaintance, and  no  chance  of  making  a  livelihood, 
and  preferred  remaining  among  the  Indians.  This 
man  has  been  very  serviceable  to  us,  and  his  wife 
particularly  useful  among  the  Shoshones.  Indeed, 
she  has  borne  with  a  patience  truly  admirable  the 
fatigues  of  so  long  a  route,  encumbered  with  the 
charge  of  an  infant,  who  is  even  now  only  nineteen 
months  old.  We  therefore  paid  him  his  wages, 
amounting  to  five  hundred  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents,  including  the  price  of  a  horse  and  a  lodge  pur- 
chased of  him;  and  soon  afterwards  dropped  down 
to  the  village  of  the  Big-white,  attended  on  shore  by 


ISO  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

all  the  Indian  chiefs  who  went  to  take  leave  of  him. 
We  found  him  surrounded  by  his  friends,  who  sat  in 
a  circle  smoking,  while  the  women  were  crying.  He 
immediately  sent  his  wife  and  son,  with  their  bag- 
gage, on  board,  accompanied  by  the  interpreter  and 
his  wife,  and  two  children ;  and  then  after  distribut- 
ing among  his  friends  some  powder  and  ball,  which 
we  had  given  to  him,  and  smoking  a  pipe  with  us, 
went  with  us  to  the  river  side.  The  whole  village 
crowded  about  us,  and  many  of  the  people  wept 
aloud  at  the  departure  of  the  chief. 

"  As  Captain  Clark  was  shaking  hands  with  the 
principal  chiefs  of  all  the  villages,  they  requested 
that  he  would  sit  with  them  one  moment  longer.  Be- 
ing willing  to  gratify  them,  he  stopped  and  ordered 
a  pipe,  after  smoking  which,  they  informed  him  that 
when  they  first  saw  us,  they  did  not  believe  all  that 
we  then  told  them;  but  having  now  seen  that  our 
words  were  all  true,  they  would  carefully  remember 
them,  and  follow  our  advice ;  that  he  might  tell  their 
Great  Father  that  the  young  men  should  remain  at 
home  and  not  make  war  on  any  people  except  in  de- 
fence of  themselves.  They  requested  him  to  tell  the 
Ricaras  to  come  and  visit  them  without  fear,  as  they 
meant  that  nation  no  harm,  but  were  desirous  of 
peace  with  them.  On  the  Sioux,  however,  they  had 
no  dependence,  and  must  kill  them  whenever  they 
made  war-parties  against  their  country.  Captain 
Clark,  in  reply,  informed  them  that  we  had  never 
insisted  on  their  not  defending  themselves,  but  re- 
quested only  that  they  would  not  strike  those  whom 
we  had  taken  by  the  hand;  that  we  would  apprise 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        l8l 

the  Ricaras  of  their  friendly  intentions,  and  that,  al- 
though we  had  not  seen  those  of  the  Sioux  with 
whom  they  were  at  war,  we  should  relate  their  con- 
duct to  their  Great  Father,  who  would  take  measures 
for  producing  a  general  peace  among  all  his  red 
children." 

After  parting  with  the  Mandans  and  their  friendly 
people,  the  Expedition  proceeds  on  its  homeward 
journey  down  the  Missouri,  a  change  in  the  course 
of  which  was  noted  by  the  party.  Presently  the  vil- 
lages of  the  Ricaras  are  come  to,  where  some  Chey- 
ennes  are  met  with  and  described.  Finally,  after  a 
pow-wow  with  Big-white,  the  Mandan  chief,  and  an 
exchange  of  ceremonial  compliments,  the  Expedition 
continues  its  way  homeward. 

"  Since  we  passed  in  1804,  a  very  obvious  change 
has  taken  place  in  the  current  and  appearance  of  the 
Missouri.  In  places  where  at  that  time  there  were 
sandbars,  the  current  of  the  river  now  passes,  and  the 
former  channel  of  the  river  is  in  turn  a  bank  of  sand. 
Sandbars  then  naked  are  covered  with  willows  sev- 
eral feet  high;  the  entrance  of  some  of  the  creeks 
and  rivers  changed  in  consequence  of  the  quantity 
of  mud  thrown  into  them;  and  in  some  of  the  bot- 
toms are  layers  of  mud  eight  inches  in  depth. 

"August  21. — We  rose  after  a  night  of  broken 
rest,  owing  to  the  mosquitoes,  and  having  put  our 
arms  in  order,  so  as  to  be  prepared  for  an  attack, 
continued  our  course.  We  soon  met  three  traders, 
two  of  whom  had  wintered  with  us  among  the  Man- 
dans  in  1804,  and  who  were  now  on  their  way  there. 
They  had  exhausted  all  their  powder  and  lead;  we 


1 82  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

therefore  supplied  them  with  both.  They  informed 
us  that  seven  hundred  Sioux  had  passed  the  Ricara 
towns  on  their  way  to  make  war  against  the  Man- 
dans  and  Minnetarees,  leaving  their  women  and 
children  encamped  near  the  Big-bend  of  the  Mis- 
souri, and  that  the  Ricaras  all  remained  at  home, 
without  taking  any  part  in  the  war.  They  also  told 
us  that  the  Pawnee,  or  Ricara  chief,  who  went  to  the 
United  States  in  the  Spring  of  1805,  died  on  his  re- 
turn near  Sioux  River. 

"  We  then  left  them,  and  soon  afterwards  arrived 
opposite  to  the  upper  Ricara  villages.  We  saluted 
them  with  the  discharge  of  four  guns,  which  they 
answered  in  the  same  manner;  and  on  our  landing 
we  were  met  by  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants 
of  each  village,  and  also  by  a  band  of  Cheyennes, 
who  were  encamped  on  a  hill  in  the  neighborhood. 

"  As  soon  as  Captain  Clark  stepped  on  shore,  he 
was  greeted  by  the  two  chiefs  to  whom  we  had  given 
medals  on  our  last  visit,  and  as  they,  as  well  as  the 
rest,  appeared  much  rejoiced  at  our  return,  and  de- 
sirous of  hearing  from  the  Mandans,  he  sat  down  on 
the  bank,  while  the  Ricara  and  Cheyennes  formed 
a  circle  round  him ;  and  after  smoking,  he  informed 
them,  as  he  had  already  done  the  Minnetarees,  of  the 
various  tribes  we  had  visited,  and  our  anxiety  to 
promote  peace  among  our  red  brethren.  He  then 
expressed  his  regret  at  their  having  attacked  the 
Mandans,  who  had  listened  to  our  counsels,  and  had 
sent  on  a  chief  to  smoke  with  them,  and  to  assure 
them  that  they  might  now  hunt  in  the  plains,  and 
visit  the  Mandan  villages  in  safety,  and  concluded 


THE   LEWIS   AND    CLARK   EXPEDITION        183 

by  inviting  some  of  the  chiefs  to  accompany  us  to 
Washington.  The  man  whom  we  had  acknowl- 
edged as  the  principal  chief  when  we  ascended,  now 
presented  another,  who  he  said  was  a  greater  chief 
than  himself,  and  to  him,  therefore,  he  had  surren- 
dered the  flag  and  medal  with  which  we  had  honored 
him.  This  chief,  who  was  absent  at  our  last  visit, 
is  a  man  of  thirty-five  years  of  age,  a  stout,  well-look- 
ing man,  and  called  by  the  Indians,  Gray-eyes. 

"  He  now  made  a  very  animated  reply.  He  de- 
clared that  the  Ricaras  were  willing  to  follow  the 
counsels  we  had  given  them,  but  a  few  of  their  bad 
young  men  would  not  live  in  peace,  but  had  joined 
the  Sioux,  and  thus  embroiled  them  with  the  Man- 
dans.  These  young  men  had,  however,  been  driven 
out  of  the  villages,  and  as  the  Ricaras  were  now 
separated  from  the  Sioux,  who  were  a  bad  people, 
and  the  cause  of  all  their  misfortunes,  they  now  de- 
sired to  be  at  peace  with  the  Mandans,  and  would 
receive  them  with  kindness  and  friendship.  Several 
of  the  chiefs  he  said  were  desirous  of  visiting  their 
Great  Father,  but  as  the  chief  who  went  to  the  United 
States  last  summer  had  not  returned,  and  they  had 
some  fears  for  his  safety,  on  account  of  the  Sioux, 
they  did  not  wish  to  leave  home  until  they  heard  of 
him.  With  regard  to  himself,  he  would  continue 
with  his  nation,  to  see  that  they  followed  our  advice. 

"  The  sun  being  now  very  hot,  the  chief  of  the 
Cheyennes  invited  us  to  his  lodge,  which  was  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  river.  We  followed  him, 
and  found  a  very  large  lodge,  made  of  twenty  buffalo 
skins,  surrounded  by  eighteen  or  twenty  lodges, 


1 84  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

nearly  equal  in  size.  The  rest  of  the  nation  are  ex- 
pected to-morrow,  and  will  make  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  or  fifty  lodges,  containing  from 
three  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred  men,  at 
which  the  men  of  the  nation  may  be  computed. 
These  Cheyennes  are  a  fine-looking  people,  of  a  large 
stature,  straight  limbs,  high  cheek-bones  and  noses, 
and  of  a  complexion  similar  to  that  of  the  Ricaras. 
Their  ears  are  cut  at  the  lower  part,  but  few  wear 
ornaments  in  them ;  the  hair  is  generally  cut  over  the 
eyebrows  and  small  ornaments  fall  down  the  cheeks, 
the  remainder  being  either  twisted  with  horse  or 
buffalo  hair,  and  divided  over  each  shoulder,  or  else 
flowing  loosely  behind.  Their  decorations  consist 
chiefly  of  blue  beads,  shells,  red  paint,  brass  rings, 
bears'  claws,  and  strips  of  otter  skins,  of  which  last 
they,  as  well  as  the  Ricaras,  are  very  fond.  The 
women  are  coarse  in  their  features,  with  wide 
mouths,  and  ugly.  Their  dress  consists  of  a  habit 
falling  to  the  mid-leg,  and  made  of  two  equal  pieces 
of  leather,  sewed  from  the  bottom  with  arm  holes, 
with  a  flap  hanging  nearly  half  way  down  the  body, 
both  before  and  behind.  These  are  burnt  various 
figures,  by  means  of  a  hot  stick,  and  adorned  with 
beads,  shells,  and  elks'  tusks,  which  all  Indians  ad- 
mire. The  other  ornaments  are  blue  beads  in  the 
ears,  but  the  hair  is  plain  and  flows  down  the  back. 
The  summer  dress  of  the  men  is  a  simple  buffalo 
robe,  a  cloth  round  the  waist,  moccasins,  and  occa- 
sionally leggings.  Living  remote  from  the  whites, 
they  are  shy  and  cautious,  but  are  peaceably  dis- 
posed, and  profess  to  make  war  against  no  people 


THE  LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION       185 

except  the  Sioux,  with  whom  they  have  been  en- 
gaged in  contests  immemorially.  •  In  their  excur- 
sions they  are  accompanied  by  their  dogs  and  horses, 
which  they  possess  in  great  numbers,  the  former 
serving  to  carry  almost  all  their  light  baggage. 
After  smoking  for  some  time,  Captain  Clark  gave  a 
small  medal  to  the  Cheyenne  chief,  and  explained  at 
the  same  time  the  meaning  of  it.  He  seemed 
alarmed  at  this  present,  and  sent  for  a  robe  and  a 
quantity  of  buffalo  meat,  which  he  gave  to  Captain 
Clark,  and  requested  him  to  take  back  the  medal,  for 
he  knew  that  all  white  people  were  medicine,  and  he 
was  afraid  of  the  medal,  or  of  anything  else  which 
the  white  people  gave  to  the  Indians.  Captain 
Clark  then  repeated  his  intention  in  giving  the 
medal,  which  was  the  medicine  his  Great  Father  had 
directed  'him  to  deliver  to  all  chiefs  who  listened  to 
his  word  and  followed  his  counsels ;  and  that,  as  he 
had  done  so,  the  medal  was  given  as  a  proof  that  we 
believed  him  sincere.  He  now  appeared  satisfied 
and  received  the  medal,  in  return  for  which  he  gave 
double  the  quantity  of  buffalo  meat  he  had  offered 
before.  He  seemed  now  quite  reconciled  to  the 
whites,  and  requested  that  some  traders  might  be 
sent  among  the  Cheyennes,  who  lived,  he  said,  in  a 
country  full  of  beaver,  but  did  not  understand  well 
how  to  catch  them,  and  were  discouraged  from  it  by 
having  no  sale  for  them  when  caught.  Captain 
Clark  promised  that  they  should  be  soon  supplied 
with  goods,  and  taught  the  best  mode  of  catching 
beaver. 
.  "  The  Big-white,  chief  of  the  Mandans,  now  ad- 


1 86  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

dressed  them  at  some  length,  explaining  the  pacific 
intentions  of  his  nation ;  and  the  Cheyenne  observed 
that  both  the  Ricaras  and  Mandans  seemed  to  be  in 
fault ;  but  at  the  end  of  the  council  the  Mandan  chief 
was  treated  with  great  civility,  and  the  greatest  har- 
mony prevailed  among  them.  The  great  chief,  how- 
ever,  informed  us,  that  none  of  the  Ricaras  could  be 
prevailed  on  to  go  with  us  till  the  return  of  the  other 
chief,  and  that  the  Cheyennes  were  a  wild  people, 
and  afraid  to  go.  He  invited  Captain  Clark  to  his 
house,  and  gave  him  two  carrots  of  tobacco,  two 
beaver  skins,  and  a  trencher  of  boiled  corn  and 
beans.  It  is  the  custom  of  all  the  nations  on  the 
Missouri  to  offer  to  every  white  man  food  and  re- 
freshment when  he  first  enters  their  tents. 

"  Captain  Clark  returned  to  the  boats,  where  he 
found  the  chief  of  the  lower  village,  who  had  cut 
off  part  of  his  hair,  and  disfigured  himself  in  such  a 
manner  that  we  did  not  recognize  him  at  first,  until 
he  explained  that  he  was  in  mourning  for  his 
nephew,  who  had  been  killed  by  the  Sioux.  *  He  pro- 
ceeded with  us  to  the  village  on  the  island,  where  we 
were  met  by  all  the  inhabitants.  The  second  chief, 
on  seeing  the  Mandan,  began  to  speak  to  him  in  a 
loud  and  threatening  tone,  till  Captain  Clark  de- 
clared that  the  Mandans  had  listened  to  our  coun- 
sels, and  that,  if  any  injury  was  done  to  the  chief,  we 
should  defend  him  against  every  nation.  He  then 
invited  the  Mandan  to  his  lodge,  and  after  a  very 
ceremonious  smoking,  assured  Captain  Clark  that 
the  Mandan  was  as  safe  as  at  home,  for  the  Ricaras 
had  opened  their  ears  to  our  counsels,  as  well  as  the 


THE   LEWIS  AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        1 87 

Mandans.  This  was  repeated  by  the  great  chief, 
and  the  Mandan  and  Ricara  chiefs  now  smoked  and 
conversed  in  great  apparent  harmony;  after  which 
we  returned  to  the  boats." 

Little  remains  now  to  be  added  to  the  story  we 
have,  we  fear,  imperfectly  related.  To  those  de- 
sirous of  learning  more  in  detail  of  the  doings  of 
and  happenings  to  the  Expedition,  we  cannot  do  bet- 
ter than  to  refer  such  to  the  valuable  "  Journal-His- 
tory of  the  Exploring  Expedition/'  an  excellent  and 
tasteful  reprint  of  which,  in  3  vols.,  was  issued  by  the 
New  Amsterdam  Book  Company,  New  York,  1902. 
Our  own  indebtedness  to  the  work  has  been  large. 
In  taking  leave  of  our  task,  we  add,  as  our  last  glean- 
ings from  the  "  Journal,"  its  closing  narrative,  under 
dates  September  21-23,  1806.  Just  before  this,  the 
Expedition,  on  the  closing  days  of  the  return  voy- 
age, had  just  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Osage  River, 
and  made  a  brief  halt  at  the  little  French  village  of 
La  Charette.  Here,  Lewis  and  Clark  express  their 
own  and  their  party's  delight  at  witnessing  some 
cows  feeding  on  the  banks,  at  which,  as  they  say, 
"the  whole  party  almost  involuntarily  raised  a  shout 
of  joy  at  seeing  this  image  of  civilization  and  do- 
mestic life."  Here  are  the  closing  entries : 

"  Having  come  (from  their  last  stopping-place) 
sixty-eight  miles,  and  the  weather  threatening  to  be 
bad,  we  remained  at  La  Charette  till  the  next 
morning. 

"Sunday  (September),  21,  when  we  proceeded, 
and  as  several  settlements  have  been  made  during 
our  absence,  were  refreshed  with  the  sight  of  men 


1 88  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

and  cattle  along  the  banks.  We  also  passed  twelve 
canoes  of  Kickapoo  Indians,  going  on  a  hunting  ex- 
cursion. At  length,  after  coming  forty-eight  miles, 
we  saluted,  with  heartfelt  satisfaction,  the  village  of 
St.  Charles,  and  on  landing  were  treated  with  the 
greatest  hospitality  and  kindness  by  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  that  place.  Their  civility  detained  us  till 
ten  o'clock  the  next  morning, 

Monday,  22,  when  the  rain  having  ceased,  we  set 
out  for  Coldwater  Creek,  about  three  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  where  we  found  a  can- 
tonment of  troops  of  the  United  States,  with  whom 
we  passed  the  day,  and  then, 

Tuesday,  23,  descended  to  the  Mississippi,  and 
round  to  St.  Louis,  where  we  arrived  at  twelve 
o'clock,  and  having  fired  a  salute  went  on  shore  and 
received  the  heartiest  and  most  hospitable  welcome 
from  the  whole  village." 

Here  ends  the  records  of  the  interesting  and  high- 
ly useful  Expedition.  In  two  years  and  a  half,  it 
had  traversed  close  upon  9,000  miles  of,  at  the  pe- 
riod, unexplored  wilderness,  and  that  at  but  little  ex- 
pense to  the  nation,  and  with  the  loss  of  only  one 
man.  The  wealth  of  information  its  leaders  placed 
at  the  service  of  the  Government  and  the  country, 
in  their  voluminous  and  instructive  journals,  was  at 
the  time  of  the  highest  service  to  both ;  while  to-day, 
now  close  upon  a  hundred  years  after  the  era  of  the 
Expedition,  the  pages  of  the  work  are  still  found 
rich  in  useful  and  illuminative  matter.  Well  did  its 
members  earn  the  glory  which  was  theirs,  on  the  re- 
turn of  the  party  to  civilization,  with  the  more  sub- 


THE  LEWIS  AND   CLARK  EXPEDITION        189 

stantial  rewards  of  a  grateful  nation — Congress,  be- 
sides giving  a  soldier's  double  pay  to  each  member 
of  the  Expedition  for  the  time  in  which  they  were 
absent,  also  making  to  each  a  generous  grant  of  land 
from  the  public  domain.  To  the  indefatigable  lead- 
ers of  the  party,  Congress  was  also  mindful,  deeding 
to  Captain  Lewis  land  to  the  extent  of  1,500  acres, 
and  to  his  loyal  colleague,  Captain  Clark,  1,000 
acres. 

Besides  these  awards,  in  acknowledgment  of  their 
great  and  devoted  services,  Captain  Lewis,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  (March  3,  1807),  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana  Territory,  with  his  headquarters 
at  St.  Louis,  an  honored  post  which,  unhappily,  he 
did  not  live  long  to  enjoy,  as  he  died,  it  is  said  by  his 
own  hand  while  suffering  from  hypochondria,  on  the 
I  ith  of  October,  1809,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five. 
To  Captain  Clark,  a  few  days  after  his  colleague's 
appointment  as  Governor,  was  given  a  commission 
by  President  Jefferson  as  Indian  agent  and  briga- 
dier-general of  the  Louisiana  territorial  militia. 
Four  years  after  the  death  of  the  lamented  Lewis, 
Captain  Clark  was  named  as  his  successor  in  the 
Governorship,  the  territory,  meanwhile,  having  been 
changed  to  that  of  Missouri.  This  office  Clark  held 
until  1822,  when  Missouri  was  admitted  as  a  State; 
after  which  he  became  Superintendent  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs. This  post  he  held  with  high  credit  to  him- 
self until  his  death,  in  his  sixty-eighth  year,  an  event 
which  occurred  at  St.  Louis,  September  i,  1838. 


LIFE,    EXPLORATIONS, 

AND   PUBLIC  SERVICES 

OF 

JOHN   CHARLES   FREMONT 

BY 

CHARLES  WENTWORTH  UPHAM 

EDITED  BY 

G.  MERCER  ADAM 


PREFACE 


THE  second  and  third  chapters  of  this  work,  em- 
bracing the  period  covered  by  the  first  two  expedi- 
tions!, have  substantially  the  value  and  authority  of 
an  autobiography.  Fremont  tells  his  own  story  in 
passages  extracted  from  his  Reports.  This  part  of 
the  volume,  barring  a  slight  omission,  gives  a  per- 
fectly authentic  account — as  good  as  can  be  found — 
of  the  interior  of  the  North  American  continent,  its 
great  features,  and  the  races  that  occupy  it.  The 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  parallel  range  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  with  the  Basin — so  full  of  strange  interest, 
and  not  yet  wholly  made  known  to  geography — be- 
tween them;  and  the  Pacific  regions,  are  here  de- 
scribed, in  his  own  fresh  and  effective  style,  by  their 
explorer. 

The  topics  of  the  work,  generally,  are  regarded  by 
the  writer  as  having  an  interest  and  dignity  entirely 
independent  of  any  of  the  excitements  and  political 
operations  of  the  day ;  and  it  has  been  prepared  with 
no  other  feeling  than  to  present  what  men  of  all 
parties  and  sections  will  hereafter  recognize  as  a  true 
picture  of  a  character  and  a  life  that  have  justly 
attracted  attention  and  will  occupy  a  permanent 
place  in  our  annals. 

iii 


iv  PREFACE 

The  facts  have  been,  in  part,  gathered  from  public 
records  and  sources  open  to  all.  Many  of  the  details 
and  dates,  with  some  very  interesting  documents, 
were  obtained  from  Colonel  Fremont.  But  for  all 
the  sentiments  and  opinions  advanced  in  the  work 
the  writer  is  wholly  and  exclusively  responsible. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT 


CHAPTER  I 

Parentage. — Education. — Early  History. 

JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  was  born  on  the  2ist 
of  January,  1813.  The  usual  residence  of  his  fam- 
ily was  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
His  father,  who  bore  the  same  name,  was  deeply 
interested  in  studying  the  character  and  condition  of 
the  North  American  Indians,  and  spent  the  last  years 
of  his  life  in  visiting  many  of  their  tribes.  On 
these  excursions  he  took  his  family  with  him,  and 
moved  slowly,  stopping  leisurely  at  the  larger  towns 
and  points  of  chief  interest.  It  was  on  one  of  these 
tours  that  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born,  in 
the  city  of  Savannah.  The  father,  following  his 
favorite  pursuit,  subsequently  visited  with  his  family, 
and  remained  for  greater  or  less  periods  of  time  in 
various  parts  of  Georgia,  Tennessee,  the  Carolinas, 
and  Virginia.  The  mother,  celebrated  for  her 
beauty  and  worth,  was  Ann  Beverly  Whiting,  a  na- 
tive of  Gloucester  County,  Virginia.  Her  family 

5 


6  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

was  connected  with  many  distinguished  names,  in- 
cluding that  of  Washington,  to  whom  she  was  nearly 
related. 

The  father  died  in  1818,  leaving  a  widow  and 
three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter.  Colonel 
Fremont  is  the  sole  survivor  of  his  family,  with 
the  exception  of  an. orphan  niece,  the  daughter  of 
his  brother,  who  since  nine  years  of  age  has  been  a 
member  of  his  family.  The  mother  died  in  1847, 
at  Aiken,  South  Carolina;  the  brother  and  sister 
some  years  before. 

After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Fremont 
remained  some  time  in  Virginia,  where  John  Charles 
received  the  rudiments  of  his  education,  at  Din- 
widdie  Court  House.  She  then  removed  back  to 
Charleston,  where  she  fixed  her  residence,  and  the 
education  of  her  children  was  continued.  Although 
born  and  reared  in  affluence,  and  accustomed  to  the 
free  and  liberal  expenditures  of  the  hospitable  and 
generous  class  to  which  her  Virginia  relatives  be- 
longed, she  was  left  with  her  young  charge  in  very 
limited  circumstances,  but,  fortunately  in  a  com- 
munity which  appreciated  her  claims  to  respect,  sym- 
pathy, and  all  kind  offices.  She  is  still  remembered 
by  many  faithful  friends  in  Charleston  as  a  lady  of 
great  piety  and  worth. 

When  John  Charles  was  about  thirteen  years 
of  age,  John  W.  Mitchell,  a  lawyer  in  Charleston,  a 
gentleman  of  great  respectability,  in  no  way  con- 
nected with  the  family,  but  actuated  only  by  benevo- 
lent impulses.,  although  perceiving  it  is  not  unlikely 
the  bright  jiromise  of  the  lad,  took  him  into  his  office 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  7 

for  the  purpose  of  making  a  lawyer  of  him.  At  a 
subsequent  period  it  became  a  favorite  object  of 
Mr.  Mitchell  to  have  him  prepare  himself  for  the 
ministry  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Mitchell  placed  him  under  the  tuition  of  Dr. 
Roberton,  a  learned  instructor  at  that  time  in 
Charleston.  Dr.  Roberton  published  an  edition  of 
Xenophon's  "  Anabasis  "  in  1850.  In  the  preface  he 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  youth  whom  Mr. 
Mitchell  placed  in  his  hands.  It  is  an  interesting 
document,  and  shows  how  the  character  which 
Colonel  Fremont  has  ever  exhibited  was  formed, 
and  illustrates  the  early  development  of  the  energy 
and  talent  that  have  borne  him  on  through  life : — 

*'  For  your  further  encouragement,  I  will  here 
relate  a  very  remarkable  instance  of  patient  diligence 
and  indomitable  perseverance. 

"  In  the  year  1827,  after  I  had  returned  to 
Charleston  from  Scotland,  and  my  classes  were  go- 
ing on,  a  very  respectable  lawyer  came  to  my  school, 
I  think  some  time  in  the  month  of  October,  with  a 
youth  apparently  about  sixteen  or  perhaps  not  so 
much,  of  middle  size,  graceful  in  manners,  rather 
slender,  but  well  formed,  and,  upon  the  whole,  what 
I  should  call  handsome ;  of  a  keen,  piercing  eye,  and 
a  noble  forehead,  seemingly  the  very  seat  of  genius. 
The  gentleman  stated  that  he  found  him  given  to 
study,  that  he  had  been  about  three  weeks  learning 
the  Latin  rudiments,  and  (hoping,  I  suppose,  to 
turn  the  youth's  attention  from  the  law  to  the  min- 
istry,) had  resolved  to  place  him  under  my  care  for 
the  purpose  of  learning  Greek,  Latin,  and  Mathe- 


8  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

matics,  and  thereby  enable  him  to  enter  Charleston 
College.  I  very  gladly  received  him,  for  I  imme- 
diately perceived  he  was  no  common  youth,  as  in- 
telligence beamed  in  his  dark  eye  and  shone  brightly 
on  his  countenance,  indicating  great  ability  and  an 
assurance  of  his  future  progress.  I  at  once  put  him 
in  the  highest  class,  just  beginning  to  read  Caesar's 
"  Commentaries  "  and  although  at  first  inferior  his 
prodigious  memory  and  enthusiastic  application  soon 
enabled  him  to  surpass  the  best.  He  began  Greek 
at  the  same  time,  and  read  with  some  who  had  been 
long  at  it,  in  which  he  also  soon  excelled.  In  short, 
in  the  space  of  one  year  he  had  with  the  class,  and 
at  odd  hours  with  myself,  read  four  books  of  Caesar. 
Cornelius  Nepos,  Sallust,  six  books  of  Virgil,  nearly 
all  Horace,  and  two  books  of  Livy ;  and  in  Greek,  all 
the  Graeca  Minora,  about  half  of  the  first  volume  of 
the  Graeca  Majora,  and  four  books  of  Homer's 
"Iliad."'  And  whatever  he  read  he  retained.  It  seem- 
ed to  me,  in  fact,  as  if  he  learned  by  mere  intuition.  I 
was  myself  utterly  astonished,  and  at  the  same  time 
delighted,  with  his  progress.  I  have  hinted  that  he 
was  designed  for  the  Church,  but  when  I  contem- 
plated his  bold,  fearless  disposition,  his  powerful  in- 
ventive geniusi,  his  admiration  of  warlike  exploits, 
and  his  love  of  heroic  and  adventurous  deeds,  I  did 
not  think  it  likely  he  would  be  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  He  had  not,  however,  the  least  appearance 
of  any  vice  whatever.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  al- 
ways the  very  pattern  of  virtue  and  modesty.  I 
could  not  help  loving  him,  so  much  did  he  captivate 
me  by  his  gentlemanly  conduct  and  extraordinary 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  9 

progress.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  he  would  one  day 
raise  himself  to  eminence.  Whilst  under  my  in- 
struction, I  discovered  his  early  genius  for  poetic 
composition  in  the  following  manner:  When  the 
Greek  class  read  the  account  that  Herodotus  gives 
of  the  battle  of  Marathon,  the  bravery  of  Miltiades 
and  his  ten  thousand  Greeks  raised  his  patriotic  feel- 
ings to  enthusiasm,  and  drew  from  him  expressions 
which  I  thought  were  embodied,  a  few  days  after- 
wards, in  some  well-written  verses  in  a  Charleston 
paper  on  that  far-famed,  unequal  but  successful  con- 
flict against  tyranny  and  oppression ;  and  suspecting 
my  talented  scholar  to  be  the  author,  I  went  to  his 
desk  and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  write  them.  He, 
hesitating  at  first,  rather  blushingly  confessed  that 
he  did.  I  then  said :  '  I  knew  you  could  do  such 
things,  and  suppose  you  have  some  such  pieces  by 
you,  which  I  should  like  to  see.  Do  bring  them  to 
me.'  He  consented,  and  in  a  day  or  two  brought 
me  a  number,  which  I  read  with  pleasure  and  ad- 
miration at  the  strong  marks  of  genius  stamped  on 
all,  but  here  and  there  requiring,  as  I  thought,  slight 
amendment. 

"  I  had  hired  a  mathematician  to  teach  both  him 
and  myself,  (for  I  could  not  then  teach  that  science,) 
and  in  this  he  also  made  such  wonderful  progress 
that  at  the  end  of  one  year  he  entered  the  Junior 
Class  in  Charleston  College  triumphantly,  while 
others  who  had  been  studying  four  years  and  more 
were  obliged  to  take  the  Sophomore  Class.  About 
the  end  of  the  year  1828  I  left  Charleston.  After 
that  he  taught  Mathematics  for  some  time.  His 


IO  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

career  afterwards  has  been  one  of  heroic  adventure, 
of  hair-breadth  escapes  by  flood  and  field,  and  of 
scientific  explorations,  which  have  brought  him 
world-wide  renown.  In  a  letter  I  received  from  him 
lately,  he  expresses  his  gratitude  to  me  in  the  follow- 
ing words :  *  I  am  very  far  from  either  forgetting 
you  or  neglecting  you,  or  in  any  way  losing  the  old 
regard  I  had  for  you.  There  is  no  time  to  which 
I  go  back  with  more  pleasure  than  that  spent  with 
you,  for  there  was  no  time  so  thoroughly  well  spent ; 
and  of  anything  I  may  have  learned,  I  remember 
nothing  so  well,  and  so  distinctly,  as  what  I  ac- 
quired with  you/  Here  I  cannot  help  saying  that 
the  merit  was  almost  all  his  own.  It  is  true  that  I 
encouraged  and  cheered  him  on,  but  if  the  soil  into 
which  I  put  the  seeds  of  learning  had  not  been  of  the 
richest  quality,  they  would  never  have  sprung  up  a 
hundredfold  in  the  full  ear." 

Fremont  was  confirmed,,  in  his  seventeenth  year, 
as  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  communion  he  was  brought  up.  Immedi- 
ately after  leaving  college,  which  was  before  the 
close  of  the  academic  term,  he  opened  a  school  in 
Charleston.  At  such  hours  as  he  could  command, 
he  attended  in  other  schools  to  instruct  classes  in 
mathematics;  and,  in  addition  to  all  these  labors, 
took  charge  for  a  considerable  period  of  an  evening 
school.  Persons  who  have  been  engaged  in  similar 
pursuits  can  appreciate  how  exhausting  such  con- 
tinuous labors  must  have  been,  so  early  did  he  de- 
velop the  indefatigable  energy  and  power  of  endur- 
ance that  have  marked  his  whole  subsequent  life. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  II 

Soon  after  this,  he  was  engaged  in  the  survey  of 
the  railroad  leading  from  Charleston  to  Hamburg. 
About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1833,  the  sloop  of 
war  Natchez  arrived  in  Charleston,  to  enforce  the 
proclamation  of  President  Jackson.  By  the  influ- 
ence of  Mr.  Poinsett,  afterwards  Secretary  of  War, 
and  others  friendly  to  his  family,  young  Fremont 
obtained  the  situation  of  teacher  of  mathematics  and 
instructor  of  the  midshipmen  on  board  the  Natchez, 
and  sailed  in  her  in  that  capacity  to  the  Brazilian 
station.  At  the  termination  of  her  cruise,  she  re- 
turned to  New  York.  After  appearing  before  a 
board  of  examiners  in  Baltimore,  Mr.  Fremont  was 
regularly  commissioned  as  a  professor  of  mathe- 
matics in  the  navy,  and  assigned  to  the  frigate  Inde- 
pendence. The  distinguished  manner  in  which  he 
passed  the  examination  coming  to  the  ears  of  the 
Faculty  of  the  College  in  Charleston,  they  instantly 
conferred  upon  him  the  academic  degree  of  both 
Bachelor  and  Master  of  Arts. 

An  Act  of  Congress,  passed  on  the  3Oth  of  April, 
1824,  authorized  the  President  of  the  United  States 
"  to  employ  two  or  more  skilful  civil  engineers,  and 
such  officers  of  the  corps  of  engineers,  or  who  may 
be  detailed  to  do  duty  with  that  corps,  as  he  may 
think  proper,  to  cause  the  necessary  surveys,  plans, 
and  estimates  to  be  made  of  the  routes  of  such  roads 
and  canals  as  he  may  deem  of  national  importance, 
in  a  commercial  or  military  point  of  view,  or  for  the 
transportation  of  the  public  mail."  Under  this  Act, 
Mr.  Fremont  received  his  first  appointment  in  that 
branch  of  the  public  service,  where  so  signal  distinc- 


12  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

tion  and  wide  renown  were  in  reserve  for  him. 
President  Jackson  selected  him  to  be  associated  as  a 
civil  engineer  with  Captain  Williams  of  the  topo- 
graphical corps  of  engineers, — an  officer  of  dis- 
tinguished merit,  and  who  will  ever  be  remembered 
as  one  of  the  heroes  that  fell  at  Monterey, — in  mak- 
ing a  survey,  plans,  and  estimates  of  the  route  of 
the  Charleston  and  Cincinnati  Railroad.  Resigning 
his  commission  in  the  navy,  he  repaired  with  alacrity 
to  his  chosen  work.  The  portion  of  the  route  as- 
signed him  was  the  mountain  regions  of  the  Caro- 
linas  and  Tennessee},  and  he  there  commenced  those 
observations  and  explorations  which  have  since  ex- 
tended over  such  immense  regions.  The  winter  of 
1837  and  1838  was  spent  also  under  Captain  Wil- 
liams, in  a  survey  of  the  Cherokee  country,  in  con- 
ducting the  field-work,  and  participating  in  prepar- 
ing the  military  map  which  was  the  result  of  the 
expedition. 

During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  an 
Act  was  passed  and  approved  by  him  on  the  5th  of 
July,  1838,  to  increase  the  military  establishment. 
The  fourth  section  required  that  the  corps  of  topo- 
graphical engineers  should  be  organized  and  in- 
creased, by  regular  promotion  in  the  same,  so  that 
the  said  corps  should  consist  of  one  colonel,  one  lieu- 
tenant colonel,  four  majors,  ten  captains,  ten  first 
lieutenants,  and  ten  second  lieutenants ;  and  the  fifth 
section  ordained  that  the  vacancies  created  by  said 
organization,  over  and  above  those  which  could  be 
filled  by  the  corps  itself,  should  be  taken  from  the 
army,  and  from  such  as  it  may  be  deemed  advisable 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT         13 

of  the  civil  engineers  employed  under  the  Act  of  the 
3Oth  of  April,  1824. 

This  latter  clause  let  in  Mr.  Fremont.  It  was 
probably  designed  to  do  so,  as  his  friend  and  patron, 
Mr.  Poinsett,  was  then  Secretary  of  War.  He  was 
accordingly  commissioned,  two  days  afterwards,  on 
the  /th  of  July,  1838,  as  a  second  lieutenant  of  the 
topographical  engineers.  About  this  time  he  had 
been  transferred  to  the  theatre  of  his  fame,  the  field 
where  his  great  work  in  life  was  to  be  done. 

A  thorough  exploration  and  survey  of  the  vast 
region  north  of  the  Missouri,  and  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, was  deemed  by  the  Administration  to  have  be- 
come necessary,  and  arrangements  were  made  to 
accomplish  it.  Mr.  Nicholet,  a  learned  and  dis- 
tinguished astronomer  and  man  of  science,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  French  Academy,  and  a  gentleman  of 
great  general  accomplishments  and  worth,  then  re- 
siding in  St.  Louis,  was  appointed  to  conduct  the 
service.  He  requested  to  have  associated  with  him 
a  younger  person  to  act  as  his  assistant  with  the 
requisite  qualities  of  science,  energy,  courage,  and 
enterprise.  Mr.  Poinsett  offered  the  situation  to 
Lieutenant  Fremont,  who  promptly  and  gladly  ac- 
cepted it.  The  years  1838  and  1839  were  spent  in 
this  field,  and  the  whole  country  was  explored  up  to 
the  British  line.  Mr.  Fremont  participated  zealous- 
ly in  the  work  and  in  making  the  map  of  that  region 
which  was  presented  to  the  government  by  Mr. 
Nicholet.  In  the  course  of  these  surveys  there  were 
seventy  thousand  meteorological  observations,  and 
the  topography  was  minutely  determined  by  the 


14  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

proper  calculations  at  innumerable  points.  The  map 
thus  constructed  has  been  the  source  from  which  all 
subsequent  ones  relating  to  that  region  have  been 
derived. 

In  the  Spring  of  1841,  Lieutenant  Fremont  went 
in  command  of  a  small  party  to  survey  the  Des- 
moines  River. 

On  the  ipth  of  October,  1841,  he  was  married, 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  to  Jessie,  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  a  Senator  in  Congress 
from  the  State  of  Missouri.  It  is  not  at  all  strange 
that  objections  were  made  to  the  match.  A  second 
lieutenant  — in  a  corps  where  promotion  is  very 
slow,  and  having  no  other  means  of  support  than  the 
unreasonably  small  pay  allowed  to  subordinate  offi- 
cers in  our  army, — surely  had  nothing  to  recom- 
mend him  in  the  way  of  worldly  goods  or  prospects. 
He  had  not  then  commenced  his  great  career, — no 
world-wide  lustre  had  begun  to  emblazon  his  name, 
— no  perilous  adventures  on  a  broad  theatre  had 
drawn  out,  to  general  view,  his  heroic  qualities. 
But  the  instincts  of  a  pure  heart  are  often  the  truest 
wisdom;  and  he  was  preferred  before  all  that  fash- 
ion, wealth,  and  great  station  could  offer. 

All  knew  the  pride  and  fidelity  with  which  Colonel 
Benton,  since  that  time,  cherished  the  character  of 
his  son-in-law.  Bereft  of  his  own  sons  by  early 
death,  his  heart  gathered  its  affections  around  Fre- 
mont. He  has  four  daughters,  all  living,  and  all 
married.  Mrs.  Fremont,  the  second  daughter,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  at  the  family  seat  of  her  grand- 
father, Colonel  McDowell,  on  the  3ist  May,  1824. 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT         15 

All  that  it  would  be  proper  to  say  of  her  in  this  work, 
is  all  that  could  be  said  of  any  woman, — she  was 
worthy  of  her  origin  and  of  her  lot. 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  at  which  Mr.  Fre- 
mont arrested  that  universal  attention  which  since 
has  followed  him.  His  two  early  expeditions,  on  a 
large  scale,  will  be  related  mostly  in  his  own  lan- 
guage, in  consecutive  extracts  from  his  Reports  pub- 
lished by  Congress.  The  first  Report  was  repub- 
lished,  together  with  the  second,  by  an  order  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  passed  March  3,  1845. 
These  Reports  at  once  established  his  reputation  as 
a  scientific  explorer  and  heroic  adventurer.  Large 
editions  of  them  have  been  reprinted  in  this  country, 
and  also  in  England,  and  they  have  been  noticed 
with  the  highest  commendation  in  the  various  liter- 
ary and  scientific  journals  at  home  and  abroad.  The 
Smithsonian  Institution  inserted  among  its  publica- 
tions a  description  of  the  plants  collected  by  him  in 
California,  prepared  by  John  Torrey,  F.  L.  S.,  with 
illustrative  plates,  entitled  "  Plantae  Fremontianse." 
Nothing  has  contributed  more  to  the  honor  of  our 
country  than  the  manner  in  which  its  gallant  and 
enlightened  officers  have  conducted  various  explor- 
ing expeditions  and  prepared  reports  of  them.  A 
rich  and  interesting  body  of  national  literature  has 
thus  been  accumulated.  Fremont's  Reports  of  his 
first  and  second  expedition  at  once  gave  him  an 
European  reputation,  which  has  not  yet  been 
rivalled. 

Of  the  literary  style  of  these  Reports,  the  reader 
will  be  able  to  judge  from  the  following  chapters. 


CHAPTER  II 

First    Expedition. — Prairies. — Fort    Laramie. — South    Pass. — 
The  Rocky  Mountains. — The  Platte  or  Nebraska  River. 

THE  first  expedition  of  Lieutenant  Fremont,  in 
command  of  an  exploring  party  on  a  large  scale, 
occupied  the  summer  of  1842,  and  embraced  the 
country  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  along  the  line  of  the  Kansas  and  the 
Great  Platte,  or  Nebraska,  River.  Having  received 
his  instructions  from  Colonel  J.  J.  Abert,  chief  of 
the  corps  of  topographical  engineers,  he  left  Wash- 
ington City  on  the  2d  of  May,  and  arrived  at  St. 
Louis,  by  way  of  New  York,  on  the  22d  of  that 
month,  where  he  made  the  chief  preparations  for  the 
service.  Having  ascended  the  Missouri  in  a  steam- 
boat, he  proceeded  to  Choteau's  Landing,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Kansas,  about  ten  miles  from  its 
mouth,  and  six  miles  beyond  the  western  boundary 
of  Missouri.  Here  the  final  arrangements  were  com- 
pleted, every  requisite  being  provided  for,  and  the 
expedition  organized  into  working  order  and  shape. 

The  party,  which  had  been  collected  in  St.  Louis, 
consisted  principally  of  Creole  and  Canadian  voy- 
ageurs,  who  had  been  trained  to  prairie  life  and  wil- 
derness adventures  in  the  employ  of  fur  companies 
in  the  Indian  country,  and  consisted  of  twenty-two 
men.  Besides  them,  there  was  Mr.  Charles  Preuss, 

16 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  I? 

a  native  of  Germany,  who  had  been  -thoroughly  edu- 
cated to  sketch  the  topographical  features  of  a 
country,  and  to  whose  extraordinary  skill  and  enthu- 
siasm, in  the  prosecution  of  the  service  assigned  him, 
Colonel  Fremont  has  always  borne  the  most  affec- 
tionate and  grateful  testimony.  Mr.  L.  Maxwell  was 
engaged  as  a  hunter,  and  Christopher  Carson,  cele- 
brated the  world  over  for  his  genius  and  exploits 
as  a  mountaineer,  and  everywhere  known  as  Kit 
Carson,  was  the  guide  of  the  expedition.  Henry 
Brant,  a  son  of  Col.  J.  H.  Brant,  of  St.  Louis,  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  and  Randolph,  a  son  of  Colonel 
Benton,  twelve  years  of  age,  also  accompanied  it. 
The  latter,  of  course,  was  especially  under  the 
charge  of  Mr.  Fremont.  Such  an  experience,  it 
was  thought,  would  be  favorable  to  his  physical 
and  mental  development;  and  it  may  well  be  sup- 
posed that  an  interesting  lad  of  that  age  would 
be  a  source  of  amusement  and  an  object  of  attach- 
ment to  men  whose  mode  of  life  had  given  them  but 
little  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  society  of  such 
a  companion.  Randolph  was  undoubtedly  the  pet 
and  the  pride  of  the  party.  Eight  men  conducted 
as  many  carts,  which  contained  stores,  baggage,  and 
instruments,  and  were  each  drawn  by  two  mules. 
All  the  rest  were  well  armed  and  mounted.  A  few 
extra  horses,  and  four  oxen,  as  an  addition  to  the 
stock  of  provisions,  completed  the  train.  It  started 
on  the  morning  of  Friday,  the  loth  of  June,  1842. 
Mr.  Choteau  accompanied  the  party  until  they  met 
an  Indian  whom  he  had  engaged  to  conduct  them 
some  forty  miles,  thus  giving  them  a  fair  start. 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v.-—  2 


1 8  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

It  will  be  well,  before  entering  upon  a  detail  of  the 
adventures  of  the  expedition  in  its  route,  to  describe 
the  general  regulations  and  ordinary  arrangements, 
in  travel  and  in  camp,  from  day  to  day. 

"  During  our  journey,  it  was  the  customary  prac- 
tice to  encamp  an  hour  or  two  before  sunset,  when 
the  carts  were  disposed  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  barri- 
cade around  a  circle  some  eighty  yards  in  diameter. 
The  tents  were  pitched,  and  the  horses  hobbled  and 
turned  loose  to  graze ;  and  but  a  few  minutes  elapsed 
before  the  cooks  of  the  messes,  of  which  there  were 
four,  were  busily  engaged  in  preparing  the  evening 
meal.  At  nightfall  the  horses,  mules,  and  oxen  were 
driven  in,  and  picketed — that  is,  secured  by  a  halter, 
of  which  one  end  was  tied  to  a  small  steel-shod 
picket,  and  driven  into  the  ground ;  the  halter  being 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  long,  which  enabled  them  to 
obtain  a  little  food  during  the  night.  When  we  had 
reached  a  part  of  the  country  where  such  a  precau- 
tion became  necessary,  the  carts  being  regularly  ar- 
ranged for  defending  the  camp,  guard  was  mounted 
at  eight  o'clock,  consisting  of  three  men,  who  were 
relieved  every  two  hours;  the  morning  watch  being 
horse  guard  for  the  day.  At  daybreak  the  camp  was 
roused,  the  animals  turned  loose  to  graze,  and  break- 
fast was  generally  over  between  six  and  seven 
o'clock,  when  we  resumed  our  march,  making  regu- 
larly a  halt  at  noon  for  one  or  two  hours.  Such  was 
usually  the  order  of  the  day,  except  when  some  acci- 
dent forced  a  variation;  which,  however,  happened 
but  rarely." 

The  party  was  now  fairly  afloat  on  the  boundless 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  19 

ocean  of  prairie ;  the  Indian  guide  had  left,  and  the 
excitements  and  perils  of  the  service"  began. 

"  We  reached  the  ford  of  the  Kansas  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  I4th,  where  the  river  was  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  yards  wide,  and  there  commenced 
preparations  for  crossing.  I  had  expected  to  find 
the  river  fordable;  but  it  had  been  swollen  by  the 
late  rains,  and  was  sweeping  by  with  an  angry  cur- 
rent,  yellow  and  turbid  as  the  Missouri.  Up  to  this 
point,  the  road  we  had  travelled  was  a  remarkably 
fine  one,  well  beaten,  and  level — the  usual  road  of  a 
prairie  country.  By  our  route,  the  ford  was  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  River. 
Several  mounted  men  led  the  way  into  the  stream  to 
swim  across.  The  animals  were  driven  in  after 
them,  and  in  a  few  minutes  all  had  reached  the  op- 
posite bank  in  safety,  with  the  exception  of  the  oxen, 
which  swam  some  distance  down  the  river,  and,  re- 
turning to  the  right  bank,  were  not  got  over  until  the 
next  morning.  In  the  meantime,  the  carts  had  been 
unloaded  and  dismantled,  and  an  India-rubber  boat, 
which  I  had  brought  with  me  for  the  survey  of  the 
Platte  River,  was  placed  in  the  water.  The  boat  was 
twenty  feet  long,  and  five  broad,  and  on  it  were 
placed  the  body  and  wheels  of  a  cart,  with  the  load 
belonging  to  it,  and  three  men  with  paddles. 

"  The  velocity  of  the  current,  and  the  inconvenient 
freight,  rendering  it  difficult  to  be  managed,  Basil 
Lajeunesse,  one  of  our  best  swimmers,  took  in  his 
teeth  a  line  attached  to  the  boat,  and  swam  ahead  in 
order  to  reach  a  footing  as  soon  as  possible  and  assist 
in  drawing  her  over.  In  this  manner,  six  passages 


20  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

had  been  successfully  made,  and  as  many  carts  with 
their  contents,  and  a  greater  portion  of  the  party 
deposited  on  the  left  bank;  but  night  was  drawing 
near,  and,  in  our  anxiety  to  have  all  over  before  the 
darkness  closed  in,  I  put  upon  the  boat  the  remain- 
ing two  carts,  with  their  accompanying  loads.  The 
man  at  the  helm  was  timid  on  water,  and,  in  his 
alarm,  capsized  the  boat.  Carts,  barrels,  boxes,  and 
bales,  were  in  a  moment  floating  down  the  current; 
but  all  the  men  who  were  on  the  shore  jumped  into 
the  water,  without  stopping  to  think  if  they  could 
swim,  and  almost  everything — even  heavy  articles, 
such  as  guns  and  lead — was  recovered. 

"  Two  of  the  men  who  could  not  swim  came  nigh 
being  drowned,  and  all  the  sugar  belonging  to  one 
of  the  messes  wasted  its  sweets  on  the  muddy  waters ; 
but  our  heaviest  loss  was  a  bag  of  coffee,  which  con- 
tained nearly  all  our  provision.  It  was  a  loss  which 
none  but  a  traveller  in  a  strange  and  inhospitable 
country  can  appreciate;  and  often  afterward,  when 
excessive  toil  and  long  marching  had  overcome  us 
with  fatigue  and  weariness,  we  remembered  and 
mourned  over  our  loss  in  the  Kansas.  Carson  and 
Maxwell  had  been  much  in  the  water  yesterday,  and 
both,  in  consequence,  were  taken  ill." 

The  various  aspects  and  incidents  of  prairie  scen- 
ery and  life  are  presented  with  great  felicity  of  de- 
scription. The  following  passages  will  be  read  with 
interest.  They  had  met  a  party  of  trappers  belong- 
ing to  the  American  Fur  Company. 

Among  them,  I  had  found  an  old  companion  on 
the  northern  prairie,  a  hardened  and  hardly  served 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  21 

veteran  of  the  mountains,  who  had  been  as  much 
hacked  and  scarred  as  an  old  moustache  of  Napo- 
leon's "  old  guard."  He  flourished  in  the  sobriquet 
of  La  Tulipe ;  his  real  name  I  never  knew.  Finding 
that  he  was  going  to  the  States  only  because  his  com- 
pany was  bound  in  that  direction,  and  that  he  was 
rather  more  willing  to  return  with  me,  I  took  him 
again  into  my  service. 

La  Tulipe,  graphically  described  by  Fremont  in 
the  foregoing  extract,  belonged  to  a  class  of  men  who 
add  much  to  the  romantic  interest  of  the  great  inte- 
rior wilds  of  our  continent.  The  sailors  of  the 
prairie,  their  only  home  is  on  those  mighty  wastes, 
their  life  is  spent  in  wandering  from  point  to  point, 
their  eyes  delight  in  the  boundless  landscape,  their 
hearts  in  scenes  of  peril  and  adventure.  They  are  as 
completely  severed  from  the  ties  of  locality,  and  the 
restraints  of  ordinary  life,  as  the  sailor;  they  are  as 
familiar  with  physical  suffering,  and  with  exposure 
to  storm  and  death,  as  free  from  care,  and  as  brave, 
generous,  and  noble-hearted. 

"  At  our  evening  camp,  about  sunset,  three  figures 
were  discovered  approaching,  which  our  glasses 
made  out  to  be  Indians.  They  proved  to  be  Chey- 
ennes — two  men,  and  a  boy  of  thirteen.  About  a 
month  since,  they  had  left  their  people  on  the  south 
fork  of  the  river,  some  three  hundred  miles  to  the 
westward,  and  a  party  of  only  four  in  number  had 
been  to  the  Pawnee  villages  on  a  horse-stealing  ex- 
cursion, from  which  they  were  returning  unsuccess- 
ful. They  were  miserably  mounted  on  wild  horses 
from  the  Arkansas  plains,  and  had  no  other  weapons 


22  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

than  bows  and  long  spears ;  and  had  they  been  dis- 
covered by  the  Pawnees,  could  not,  by  any  possi- 
bility, have  escaped.  They  were  mortified  by  their 
ill-success,  and  said  the  Pawnees  were  cowards,  who 
shut  up  their  horses  in  their  lodges  at  night.  I  in- 
vited them  to  supper  with  me,  and  Randolph  and  the 
young  Cheyenne,  who  had  been  eyeing  each  other 
suspiciously  and  curiously,  soon  became  intimate 
friends. 

"  A  few  miles  brought  us  into  the  midst  of  the 
buffalo,  swarming  in  immense  numbers  over  the 
plains,  where  they  had  left  scarcely  a  blade  of  grass 
standing.  Mr.  Preuss,  who  was  sketching  at  a  little 
distance  in  the  rear,  had  at  first  noted  them  as  large 
groves  of  timber.  In  the  sight  of  such  a  mass  of  life, 
the  traveller  feels  a  strange  emotion  of  grandeur. 
We  had  heard  from  a  distance  a  dull  and  confused 
murmuring,  and,  when  we  came  in  view  of  their 
dark  masses,  there  was  not  one  among  us  who  did 
not  feel  his  heart  beat  quicker.  It  was  the  early  part 
of  the  day,  when  the  herds  are  feeding;  and  every- 
where they  were  in  motion.  Here  and  there  a  huge 
old  bull  was  rolling  in  the  grass,  and  clouds  of  dust 
rose  in  the  air  from  various  parts  of  the  bands,  each 
the  scene  of  some  obstinate  fight.  Indians  and 
buffalo  make  the  poetry  and  life  of  the  prairie,  and 
our  camp  was  full  of  their  exhilaration.  With  pleas- 
ant weather  and  no  enemy  to  fear,  and  abundance  of 
the  most  excellent  meat,  and  no  scarcity  of  bread  or 
tobacco,  they  were  enjoying  the  oasis  of  a  voyageur's 
life.  Three  cows  were  killed  to-day.  Kit  Carson 
had  shot  one,  and  was  continuing  the  chase  in  the 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  2$ 

midst  of  another  herd,  when  his  horse  fell  headlong, 
but  sprang  up  and  joined  the  fly  ing -band.  Though 
considerably  hurt,  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  break 
no  bones ;  and  Maxwell,  who  was  mounted  on  a  fleet 
hunter,  captured  the  runaway  after  a  hard  chase. 
He  was  on  the  point  of  shooting  him,  to  avoid  the 
loss  of  his  bridle,  (a  handsomely  mounted  Spanish 
one, )  when  he  found  that  his  horse  was  able  to  come 
up  with  him.  Animals  are  frequently  lost  in  this 
way;  and  it  is  necessary  to  keep  close  watch  over 
them,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  buffalo,  in  the  midst  of 
which  they  scour  off  to  the  plains  and  are  rarely  re- 
taken. Astronomical  observations  placed  us  in  longi- 
tude 100°  05'  47",  latitude  40°  49'  55". 

"  July  i.  As  we  were  riding  quietly  along  the 
bank,  a  grand  herd  of  buffalo,  some  seven  or  eight 
hundred  in  number,  came  crowding  up  from  the 
river,  where  they  had  been  to  drink,  and  commenced 
crossing  the  plain  slowly,  eating  as  they  went.  The 
wind  was  favorable ;  the  coolness  of  the  morning  in- 
vited to  exercise;  the  ground  was  apparently  good, 
and  the  distance  across  the  prairie  (two  or  three 
miles)  gave  us  a  fine  opportunity  to  charge  them 
before  they  could  get  among  the  river  hills.  It  was 
too  fine  a  prospect  for  a  chase  to  be  lost ;  and,  halting 
for  a  few  moments,  the  hunters  were  brought  up  and 
saddled,  and  Kit  Carson,  Maxwell,  and  I  started  to- 
gether. They  were  now  somewhat  less  than  half  a 
mile  distant,  and  we  rode  easily  along  until  within 
about  three  hundred  yards,  when  a  sudden  agitation, 
a  wavering  in  the  band,  and  a  galloping  to  and  fro 
of  some  which  were  scattered  along  the  skirts,  gave 


24  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

us  the  intimation  that  we  were  discovered.  We 
started  together  at  a  hand  gallop,  riding  steadily 
abreast  of  each  other,  and  here  the  interest  of  the 
chase  became  so  engrossingly  intense,  that  we  were 
sensible  to  nothing  else.  We  were  now  closing  upon 
them  rapidly,  and  the  front  of  the  mass  was  already 
in  rapid  motion  for  the  hills,  and  in  a  few  seconds 
the  movement  had  communicated  itself  to  the  whole 
herd. 

"  A  crowd  of  bulls,  as  usual,  brought  up  the  rear, 
and  every  now  and  then  some  of  them  faced  about, 
and  then  dashed  on  after  the  band  a  short  distance, 
and  turned  and  looked  again,  as  if  more  than  half 
inclined  to  stand  and  fight.  In  a  few  moments,  how- 
ever, during  which  we  had  been  quickening  our  pace, 
the  rout  was  universal,  and  we  were  going  over  the 
ground  like  a  hurricane.  When  at  about  thirty 
yards,  we  gave  the  usual  shout,  (the  hunter's  battle- 
cry,)  and  broke  into  the  herd.  We  entered  on  the 
side,  the  mass  giving  way  in  every  direction  in  their 
heedless  course.  Many  of  the  bulls,  less  active  and 
less  fleet  than  the  cows,  paying  no  attention  to  the 
ground,  and  occupied  solely  with  the  hunter,  were 
precipitated  to  the  earth  with  great  force,  rolling 
over  and  over  with  the  violence  of  the  shock,  and 
hardly  distinguishable  in  the  dust.  We  separated 
on  entering,  each  singling  out  his  game. 

"  My  horse  was  a  trained  hunter,  famous  in  the 
west  under  the  name  of  "  Proveau,"  and,  with  his 
eyes  flashing,  and  the  foam  flying  from  his  mouth, 
sprang  on  after  the  cow  like  a  tiger.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments he  brought  me  alongside  of  her,  and,  rising 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  2$ 

in  the  stirrups,  I  fired  at  the  distance  of  a  yard,  the 
ball  entering  at  the  termination  of  the  long  hair,  and 
passing  near  the  heart.  She  fell  headlong  at  the  re- 
port of  the  gun,  and  checking  my  horse,  I  looked 
around  for  my  companions.  At  a  little  distance,  Kit 
was  on  the  ground,  engaged  in  tying  his  horse  to  the 
horns  of  a  cow  which  he  was  preparing  to  cut  up. 
Among  the  scattered  bands,  at  some  distance  below, 
I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Maxwell;  and  while  I  was 
looking,  a  light  wreath  of  white  smoke  curled  away 
from  his  gun,  from  which  I  was  too  far  to  hear  the 
report.  Nearer,  and  between  me  and  the  hills,  to- 
wards which  they  were  directing  their  course,  was 
the  body  of  the  herd,  and  giving  my  horse  the  rein, 
we  dashed  after  them. .  A  thick  cloud  of  dust  hung 
upon  their  rear,  which  filled  my  rpouth  and  eyes,  and 
nearly  smothered  me.  In  the  midst  of  this  I  could 
see  nothing,  and  the  buffalo  were  not  distinguishable 
until  within  thirty  feet.  They  crowded  together 
more  densely  still  as  I  came  upon  them,  and  rushed 
along  in  such  a  compact  body,  that  I  could  not  obtain 
an  entrance, — the  horse  almost  leaping  upon  them. 
In  a  few  moments  the  mass  divided  to  the  right  and 
left,  the  horns  clattering  with  a  noise  heard  above 
everything  else,  and  my  horse  darted  into  the  open- 
ing. Five  or  six  bulls  charged  on  us  as  we  dashed 
along  the  line,  but  were  left  far  behind,  and  singling 
out  a  cow,  I  gave  her  my  fire,  but  struck  too  high. 
She  gave  a  tremendous  leap,  and  scoured  on  swifter 
than  before.  I  reined  up  my  horse,  and  the  band 
swept  on  like  a  torrent,  and  left  the  place  quiet  and 
clear.  Our  chase  had  led  us  into  dangerous  ground. 


26  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

A  prairie-dog  village,  so  thickly  settled  that  there 
were  three  or  four  holes  in  every  twenty  yards 
square,  occupied  the  whole  bottom  for  nearly  two 
miles  in  length.  Looking  around,  I  saw  only  one  of 
the  hunters,  nearly  out  of  sight,  and  the  long  dark 
line  of  our  caravan  crawling  along,  three  or  four 
miles  distant." 

The  expedition  had  now  reached  the  heart  of  the 
prairie  country,  and  the  report  contains  graphic  de- 
scriptions of  the  scenery  and  general  features  of  the 
landscape.  The  botanical  richness  of  these  vast 
plains  is  one  of  their  most  striking  attractions. 

As  they  approached  the  regions  where  danger 
from  Indian  hostility  was  to  be  apprehended,  the 
men  were  practised,  during  the  noon  and  evening 
halts,  at  target-shooting,  and  increased  vigilance  was 
exercised  by  the  guards. 

"We  had  travelled  thirty-one  miles.  A  heavy  bank 
of  black  clouds  in  the  west  came  on  us  in  a  storm 
between  nine  and  ten,  preceded  by  a  violent  wind. 
The  rain  fell  in  such  torrents  that  it  was  difficult  to 
breathe  facing  the  wind,  the  thunder  rolled  inces- 
santly, and  the  whole  sky  was  tremulous  with  light- 
ning; now  and  then  illuminated  by  a  blinding  flash, 
succeeded  by  pitchy  darkness.  Carson  had  the  watch 
from  ten  to  midnight,  and  to  him  had  been  assigned 
our  young  compagnons  de  voyage,  Messrs.  Brant  and 
R.  Benton.  This  was  their  first  night  on  guard,  and 
such  an  introduction  did  not  augur  very  auspiciously 
for  the  pleasures  of  the  expedition.  Many  things 
conspired  to  render  their  situation  uncomfortable; 
stories  of  desperate  and  bloody  Indian  fights  were 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT        2? 

rife  in  the  camp ;  our  position  was  badly  chosen,  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  timbered  hollows,  and  occu- 
pying an  area  of  several  hundred  feet,  so  that  neces- 
sarily the  guards  were  far  apart ;  and  now  and  then 
I  could  hear  Randolph,  as  if  relieved  by  the  sound 
of  a  voice  in  the  darkness,  calling  out  to  the  sergeant 
of  the  guard,  to  direct  his  attention  to  some  imagi- 
nary alarm ;  but  they  stood  it  out,  and  took  their  turn 
regularly  afterward." 

The  incidents  of  camp  and  prairie  life  are  pleas- 
antly told  in  the  following  passages: — 

"  As  we  w.ere  riding  slowly  along  this  afternoon, 
clouds  of  dust  in  the  ravines,  among  the  hills  to  the 
right,  suddenly  attracted  our  attention,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  column  after  column  of  buffalo  came  gallop- 
ing down,  making  directly  to  the  river.  By  the  time 
the  leading  herds  had  reached  the  water,  the  prairie 
was  darkened  with  the  dense  masses.  This  move- 
ment of  the  buffalo  indicated  to  us  the  presence  of 
Indians  on  the  North  fork. 

"I  halted  earlier  than  usual,  about  forty. miles 
from  the  junction,  and  all  hands  were  soon  busily 
engaged  in  preparing  a  feast  to  celebrate  the  day. 
The  kindness  of  our  friends  at  St.  Louis  had  pro- 
vided us  with  a  large  supply  of  excellent  preserves 
and  rich  fruit-cake ;  and  when  these  were  added  to  a 
macaroni  soup,  and  variously  prepared  dishes  of  the 
choicest  buffalo  meat,  crowned  with  a  cup  of  coffee, 
and  enjoyed  with  prairie  appetite,  we  felt,  as  we  sat 
in  barbaric  luxury  around  our  smoking  supper  on 
the  grass,  a  greater  sensation  of  enjoyment  than  the 
Roman  epicure  at  his  perfumed  feast.  But  most  of 


28  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

all  it  seemed  to  please  our  Indian  friends,  who,  in  the 
unrestrained  enjoyment  of  the  moment,  demanded  to 
know  if  our  '  medicine  days  came  often.' ' 

The  route  of  the  expedition  had  been  along  the 
southern  side  of  the  Kansas  about  one  hundred  miles, 
then  across  that  river;  after  continuing  some  time 
near  its  northern  side,  across  the  country  to  Grand 
Island,  in  the  Platte,  then  along  the  course  of  that 
river  to  the  junction  of  its  north  and  south  forks,  and 
then  up  the  south  fork. 

At  the  distance  of  about  forty  miles  from  the  junc- 
tion, on  the  5th  of  July,  Mr.  Fremont  divided  his 
party.  With  Mr.  Preuss,  Maxwell,  Bernier,  Ayot, 
and  Basil  Lajeunesse,  he  continued  up  the  course  of 
the  south  fork,  taking  with  him  the  Cheyennes,  as 
their  home  was  in  that  direction.  The  residue  of  the 
party  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Clement 
Lambert,  who  was  directed  to  cross  over  to  the  north 
fork,  and  at  some  convenient  place,  make  a  cache  of 
everything  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  further 
progress  of  the  expedition.  It  is  the  custom  of  par- 
ties travelling  far  into  the  wilderness,  at  points  which 
they  expect  to  pass  again  on  their  route,  to  conceal, 
by  burying,  or  in  any  way  covering,  so  as  to  protect 
and  preserve  them,  such  articles  as  may  be  dispensed 
with  in  the  meantime.  These  places  of  hidden  de- 
posit are  called  caches.  After  attending  to  this, 
Lambert  was  instructed  to  make  his  way  to  the 
American  company's  fort  at  the  mouth  of  Laramie's 
Fork,  and  there  wait  the  arrival  of  Fremont,  who 
designed  to  reach  the  fort  in  season  to  observe  cer- 
tain occupations  that  were  to  take  place  on  the  nights 
of  the  1 6th  and  i;th  of  July. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  29 

"July  5.  Before  breakfast  all  was  ready.  We 
had  one  led  horse  in  addition  to  those  we  rode,  and  a 
pack  mule,  destined  to  carry  our  instruments,  pro- 
visions, and  baggage ;  the  last  two  articles  not  being 
of  very  great  weight.  The  instruments  consisted  of 
a  sextant,  artificial  horizon,  &c.,  a  barometer,  spy- 
glass, and  compass.  The  chronometer  I  of  course 
kept  on  my  person.  I  had  ordered  the  cook  to  put 
up  for  us  some  flour,  coffee,  and  sugar,  and  our  rifles 
were  to  furnish  .the  rest.  One  blanket,  in  addition 
to  his  saddle  and  saddle  blanket,  furnished  the  mate- 
rials for  each  man's  bed,  and  every  one  was  provided 
with  a  change  of  linen.  All  were  armed  with  rifles 
or  double-barrelled  guns;  and,  in  addition  to  these, 
Maxwell  and  myself  were  furnished  with  excellent 
pistols.  Thus  accoutred,  we  took  a  parting  breakfast 
with  our  friends,  and  set  forth. 

"  Our  journey  the  first  day  afforded  nothing  of 
any  interest,  though  we  had  travelled  about  thirty- 
six  miles. 

"July  6.  Finding  that  our  present  excursion 
would  be  attended  with  considerable  hardship,  and 
unwilling  to  expose  more  persons  than  necessary,  I 
determined  to  send  Mr.  Preuss  back  to  the  party. 
His  horse,  too,  appeared  in, no  condition  to  support 
the  journey;  and  accordingly,  after  breakfast,  he 
took  the  road  across  the  hills,  attended  by  one  of  our 
most  trusty  men,  Bernier.  The  ridge  between  the 
rivers  is  here  about  fifteen  miles  broad,  and  I  ex- 
pected he  would  probably  strike  the  fork  near  their 
evening  camp.  At  all  events,  he  would  not  fail  to 
find  their  trail,  and  rejoin  them  the  next  day." 


3O  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

After  his  people  had  composed  themselves  for  the 
night,  and  silence  and  slumber  had  fallen  upon  the 
camp,  it  was  the  invariable  practice  of  the  com- 
mander, when  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  the 
state  of  the  weather,  and  the  aspect  of  the  heavens 
allowed,  to  get  out  his  instruments,  take  astronomical 
observations,  and  determine  and  record  the  latitude 
and  longitude. 

"  My  companions  slept  rolled  up  in  their  blankets, 
and  the  Indians  lay  in  the  grass  near  the  fire ;  but  my 
sleeping-place  generally  had  an  air  of  more  preten- 
sion. Our  rifles  were  tied  together  near  the  muzzle, 
the  butts  resting  on  the  ground,  and  a  knife  laid  on 
the  rope,  to  cut  away  in  case  of  an  alarm.  Over  this, 
which  made  a  kind  of  frame,  was  thrown  a  large  In- 
dia rubber  cloth,  which  we  used  to  cover  our  packs. 
This  made  a  tent  sufficiently  large  to  receive  about 
half  of  my  bed,  and  was  a  place  of  shelter  for  my  in- 
struments; and  as  I  was  careful  always  to  put  this 
part  against  the  wind,  I  could  lie  here  with  a  sensa- 
tion of  satisfied  enjoyment,  and  hear  the  wind  blow, 
and  the  rain  patter  close  to  my  head,  and  know  that  I 
should  be  at  least  half  dry.  Certainly,  I  never  slept 
more  soundly.  The  barometer  at  sunset  was  26.010, 
thermometer  81°,  and  cloudy;  but  a  gale  from  the 
west  sprang  up  with  the  setting  sun,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  swept  away  every  cloud  from  the  sky.  The 
evening  was  very  fine,  and  I  remained  up  to  take 
some  astronomical  observations." 

The  party  ascended  the  South  Fork,  arriving,  late 
in  the  evening  of  the  loth,  at  St.  Vrain's  Fort,  which 
is  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  about  seventeen  miles 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  3! 

from  Long's  Peak.  On  the  morning  of  the  I2th,  it 
started  across  the  country  in  the  direction  of  Fort 
Laramie,  which  was  reached  by  the  evening  of  the 
1 5th.  They  passed  on  the  way  some  of  those  won- 
derful natural  formations  which  the  face  of  the  rocks 
and  outlines  of  the  mountains  often  present  in  the 
interior  of  the  continent. 

"  The  hill  on  the  western  side  imitates,  in  an  ex- 
traordinary manner,  a  massive  fortified  place,  with 
a  remarkable  fulness  of  detail.  The  rock  is  marl  and 
earthy  limestone,  white,  without  the  least  appearance 
of  vegetation,  and  much  resembles  masonry  at  a  little 
distance ;  and  here  it  sweeps  around  a  level  area  two 
or  three  hundred  yards  in  diameter,  and  :n  the  form 
of  a  half-moon,  terminating  on  either  extremity  in 
enormous  bastions.  Along  the  whole  line  of  the 
parapets  appear  domes  and  slender  minarets,  forty  or 
fifty  feet  high,  giving  it  every  appearance  of  an  old 
fortified  town.  On  the  waters  of  White  River,  where 
this  formation  exists  in  great  extent,  it  presents  ap- 
pearances which  excite  the  admiration  of  the  solitary 
voyageur,  and  form  a  frequent  theme  of  their  con- 
versation when  speaking  of  the  wonders  of  the  coun- 
try. Sometimes  it  offers  the  perfectly  illusive  ap- 
pearance of  a  large  city,  with  numerous  streets  and 
magnificent  buildings,  among  which  the  Canadians 
never  fail  to  see  their  cabaret;  and  sometimes  it  takes 
the  form  of  a  solitary  house,  with  many  large  cham- 
bers, into  which  they  drive  their  horses  at  night,  and 
sleep  in  these  natural  defences  perfectly  secure  from 
any  attack  of  prowling  savages.  Before  reaching 
our  camp  at  Goshen's  Hole,  in  crossing  the  immense 


32  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

detritus  at  the  foot  of  the  Castle  Rock,  we  were  in- 
volved amidst  winding  passages  cut  by  the  waters  of 
the  hill;  and  where,  with  a  breadth  scarcely  large 
enough  for  the  passage  of  a  horse,  the  walls  rise 
thirty  and  forty  feet  perpendicularly.  This  forma- 
tion supplies  the  discoloration  of  the  Platte." 

Upon  reaching  Fort  Laramie,  Fremont  found  the 
residue  of  his  party  there.  They  had  arrived  on  the 
evening  of  the  I3th.  Mr.  Preuss,  with  his  com- 
panion Bernier,  had  intercepted  them  at  the  expected 
point.  Some  extracts  from  Preuss's  journal  will  be 
read  with  interest,  and  prepare  the  mind  to  appre- 
ciate the  energy  and  decision  of  character  of  Fre- 
mont, and  the  heroic  fidelity  of  those  of  his  followers 
who  resolved  to  share  with  him  the  now  imminent 
dangers  and  increasing  hardships  of  the  enterprise. 

It  seems  that  after  leaving  Fremont,  on  the  6th  of 
July,  Preuss  and  Bernier  reached  the  north  fork  of 
the  Platte,  in  about  six  hours.  There  was  no  sign 
that  Lambert's  party  had  passed.  Bernier  rode  down 
along  the  river  to  find  them,  leaving  Preuss,  who 
was  too  much  exhausted  to  accompany  him.  The 
night  approached  and  Bernier  did  not  return.  Of 
course  there  is  always  more  or  less  danger  in  those 
vast  unknown  regions  when  parties  get  separated 
and  out  of  sight,  and  where  all  are  liable  to  be  sud- 
denly cut  off,  of  not  meeting  again. 

Under  date  of  July  8,  Preuss  relates  as  follows : — 

"  Our  road  to-day  was  a  solitary  one.  No  game 
made  its  appearance — not  even  a  buffalo  or  a  stray 
antelope ;  and  nothing  occurred  to  break  the  monot- 
ony until  about  five  o'clock,  when  the  caravan  made 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  33 

a  sudden  halt.  There  was  a  galloping  in  of  scouts 
and  horsemen  from  every  side — a  hurrying  to  and 
fro  in  noisy  confusion ;  rifles  were  taken  from  their 
cover ;  bullet  pouches  examined ;  in  short,  there  was 
the  cry  of  *  Indians  '  heard  again.  I  had  become  so 
much  accustomed  to  these  alarms,  that  now  they  made 
but  little  impression  on  me;  and  before  I  had  time 
to  become  excited,  the  newcomers  were  ascertained 
to  be  whites.  It  was  a  large  party  of  traders  and 
trappers,  conducted  by  Mr.  Bridger,  a  man  well 
known  in  the  history  of  the  country.  As  the  sun 
was  low,  and  there  was  a  fine  grass  patch  not  far 
ahead,  they  turned  back  and  encamped  for  the  night 
with  us.  Mr.  Bridger  was  invited  to  supper;  and 
we  listened  with  eager  interest  to  an  account  of  their 
adventures.  What  they  had  met,  we  would  be  likely 
to  encounter;  the  chances  which  had  befallen  them, 
would  probably  happen  to  us ;  we  looked  upon  their 
life  as  a  picture  of  our  own.  He  informed  us  that 
the  condition  of  the  country  had  become  exceedingly 
dangerous.  The  Sioux,  who  had  been  badly  dis- 
posed, had  broken  out  into  open  hostility,  and  in  the 
preceding  autumn  his  party  had  encountered  them  in 
a  severe  engagement,  in  which  a  number  of  lives  had 
been  lost  on  both  sides.  United  with  the  Cheyenne 
and  Gros  Ventre  Indians,  they  were  scouring  the 
upper  country  in  war  parties  of  great  force,  and 
were  at  this  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Red 
Buttes,  a  famous  landmark,  which  was  directly  on 
our  path.  They  had  declared  war  upon  every  living 
thing  which  should  be  found  westward  of  that  point, 
though  their  main  object  was  to  attack  a  large  camp 
A.  B.,  VOL.V.  —  3 


34  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

of  whites  and  Snake  Indians,  who  had  a  rendezvous 
in  the  Sweetwater  Valley.  Availing  himself  of  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  country,  he  had  reached 
Laramie  by  an  unusual  route  through  the  Black 
Hills,  and  avoided  coming  into  contact  with  any  of 
the  scattered  parties.  This  gentleman  offered  his 
services  to  accompany  us  so  far  as  the  head  of  the 
Sweetwater;  but  the  absence  of  our  leader,  which 
was  deeply  regretted  by  us  all,  rendered  it  impossible 
for  us  to  enter  upon  such  arrangement.  In  a  camp 
consisting  of  men  whose  lives  had  been  spent  in  this 
country,  I  expected  to  find  every  one  prepared  for 
occurrences  of  this  nature;  but,  to  my  great  sur- 
prise, I  found,  on  the  contrary,  that  this  news  had 
thrown  them  all  into  the  greatest  consternation,  and 
on  every  side  I  heard  only  one  exclamation,  '  //  n'y 
aura  pas  de  vie  pour  nous/ — '  There  will  be  no  more 
life  for  us/  *  our  days  are  numbered/  All  the  night, 
scattered  groups  were  assembled  around  the  fires, 
smoking  their  pipes,  and  listening  with  the  greatest 
eagerness  to  exaggerated  details  of  Indian  hostili- 
ties ;  and  in  the  morning  I  found  the  camp  dispirited, 
and  agitated  by  a  variety  of  conflicting  opinions.  A 
majority  of  the  people  were  strongly  disposed  to  re- 
turn; but  Clement  Lambert,  with  some  five  or  six 
others,  professed  their  determination  to  follow  Mr. 
Fremont  to  the  uttermost  limit  of  his  journey.  The 
others  yielded  to  their  remonstrances,  and,  some- 
what ashamed  of  their  cowardice,  concluded  to  ad- 
vance at  least  so  far  as  Laramie  Fork,  eastward 
of  which  they  were  aware  no  danger  was  to  be 
apprehended." 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  35 

Upon  Fremont's  reaching  the  fort,  a  variety  of 
circumstances,  related  to  him  by  Mr.  Boudeau,  the 
gentleman  in  charge  of  that  station — corroborated 
by  the  testimony  of  all  who  had  means  of  knowledge 
— confirmed  the  alarming  statements  made  by  Mr. 
Bridger.  Extracts  from  Fremont's  Journal  will  en- 
able the  reader  to  realize  the  pressure  made  upon 
him  at  Fort  Laramie  to  prevent  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  his  journey : — 

"  Thus  it  would  appear  that  the  country  was 
swarming  with  scattered  war  parties;  and  when  I 
heard,  during  the  day,  the  various  contradictory 
and  exaggerated  rumors  which  were  incessantly  re- 
peated to  them,  I  was  not  surprised  that  so  much 
alarm  prevailed  among  my  men.  Carson,  one  of 
the  best  and  most  experienced  mountaineers,  fully 
supported  the  opinion  given  by  Bridger  of  the  dan- 
gerous state  of  the  country,  and  openly  expressed 
his  conviction  that  we  could  not  escape  without  some 
sharp  encounters  with  the  Indians.  In  addition  to 
this,  he  made  his  will ;  and  among  the  circumstances 
which  were  constantly  occurring  to  increase  their 
alarm,  this  was  the  most  unfortunate;  and  I  found 
that  a  number  of  my  party  had  become  so  much  in- 
timidated that  they  had  requested  to  be  discharged 
at  this  place. 

"  So  far  as  frequent  interruption  from  the  Indians 
would  allow,  we  occupied  ourselves  in  making  some 
astronomical  calculations,  and  bringing  up  the  gen- 
eral map  to  this  stage  of  our  journey;  but  the  tent 
was  generally  occupied  by  a  succession  of  our  cere- 
monious visitors.  Some  came  for  presents,  and  oth- 


36  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

ers  for  information  of  our  object  in  coming  to  the 
country;  now  and  then,  one  would  dart  up  to  the 
tent  on  horseback,  jerk  off  his  trappings  and  stand 
silent  at  the  door,  holding  his  horse  by  the  halter, 
signifying  his  desire  to  trade ;  occasionally,  a  savage 
would  stalk  in  with  an  invitation  to  a  feast  of  honor, 
a  dog  feast,  and  deliberately  sit  down  and  wait  quiet- 
ly until  I  was  ready  to  accompany  him.  I  went  to 
one;  the  women  and  children  were  sitting  outside 
the  lodge,  and  we  took  our  seats  on  buffalo  robes 
spread  around.  The  dog  was  in  a  large  pot  over  the 
fire,  in  the  middle  of  the  lodge,  and  immediately  on 
our  arrival  was  dished  up  in  large  wooden  bowls, 
one  of  which  was  handed  to  each.  The  flesh  ap- 
peared very  glutinous,  with  something  of  the  flavor 
and  appearance  of  mutton. 

"  During  our  stay  here,  the  men  had  been  engaged 
in  making  numerous  repairs,  arranging  pack-sad- 
dles, and  otherwise  preparing  for  the  chances  of  a 
rough  road  and  mountain  travel.  All  things  of  this 
nature  being  ready,  I  gathered  them  around  me  in 
the  evening,  and  told  them  that  '  I  had  determined 
to  proceed  the  next  day.  They  were  all  well-armed. 
I  had  engaged  the  services  of  Mr.  Bissonette  as  in- 
terpreter, and  had  taken,  in  the  circumstances,  every 
possible  means  to  insure  our  safety.  In  the  rumors 
we  had  heard,  I  believed  there  was  much  exaggera- 
tion; and  then,  they  were  men  accustomed  to  this 
kind  of  life  and  to  the  country ;  and  that  these  were 
the  dangers  of  every  day  occurrence,  and  to  be  ex- 
pected in  the  ordinary  course  of  their  service.  They 
had  heard  of  the  unsettled  condition  of  the  country 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  37 

before  leaving  St.  Louis,  and  therefore  could  not 
make  it  a  reason  for  breaking  their  engagements. 
Still,  I  was  unwilling  to  take  with  me,  on  a  service 
of  some  certain  danger,  men  on  whom  I  could  not 
rely ;  and  as  I  had  understood  that  there  were  among 
them  some  who  were  disposed  to  cowardice,  and 
anxious  to  return,  they  had  but  to  come  forward  at 
once,  and  state  their  desire,  and  they  would  be  dis- 
charged with  the  amount  due  to  them  for  the  time 
they  had  served/  To  their  honor  be  it  said,  there 
was  but  one  among  them  who  had  the  face  to  come 
forward  and  avail  himself  of  the  permission.  I  did 
not  think  that  the  situation  of  the  country  justified 
me  in  taking  our  young  companions,  Messrs.  Brant 
and  Benton,  along  with  us.  In  case  of  misfortune, 
it  would  have  been  thought,  at  the  least,  an  act  of 
great  imprudence ;  and  therefore,  though  reluctantly, 
I  determined  to  leave  them.  Randolph  had  been 
the  life  of  the  camp,  and  the  petit  garcon  was  much 
regretted  by  the  men,  to  whom  his  buoyant  spirits 
had  afforded  great  amusement.  They  all,  however, 
agreed  in  the  propriety  of  leaving  him  at  the  fort, 
because,  as  they  said,  he  might  cost  the  lives  of  some 
of  the  men  in  a  fight  with  the  Indians. 

"  We  were  ready  to  depart ;  the  tents  were  struck, 
the  mules  geared  up,  and  our  horses  saddled,  and 
we  walked  up  to  the  fort  to  take  the  stirrup-cup  with 
our  friends  in  an  excellent  home-brewed  preparation. 
While  thus  pleasantly  engaged,  seated  in  one  of  the 
little  cool  chambers,  at  the  door  of  which  a  man  had 
been  stationed  to  prevent  all  intrusion  from  the  In- 
dians, a  number  of  chiefs,  several  of  them  powerful. 


38  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

fine-looking  men,  forced  their  way  into  the  room  in 
spite  of  all  opposition.  Handing  me  the  following 
letter,  they  took  their  seats  in  silence : — 

*  FORT  PLATTED  July  i,  1842. 

'  MR.  FREMONT  :  The  Chiefs  having  assembled  in 
council  have  just  told  me  to  warn  you  not  to  set  out 
before  the  party  of  young  men  which  is  now  out 
shall  have  returned.  Furthermore,  they  tell  me  that 
they  are  very  sure  they  will  fire  upon  you  as  soon 
as  they  meet  you.  They  are  expected  back  in  seven 
or  eight  days.  Excuse  me  for  making  these  obser- 
vations, but  it  seems  my  duty  to  warn  you  of  dan- 
ger. Moreover,  the  chiefs  who  prohibit  your  set- 
ting out  before  the  return  of  the  warriors  are  the 
bearers  of  this  note. 

*  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

'JOSEPH    BlSSONETTE, 

'  By  L.  B.  CHARTRAIN. 

'  Names  of  some  of  the  chiefs.  The  Otter  Hat, 
the  Breaker  of  Arrowy  the  Black  Night,  the  Bull's 
Tail/ 

"  After  reading  this,  I  mentioned  its  purport  to 
my  companions;  and,  seeing  that  all  were  fully 
possessed  of  its  contents,  one  of  the  Indians  rose, 
and  having  first  shaken  hands  with  me,  spoke  as 
follows : — 

'  You  have  come  among  us  at  a  bad  time.  Some 
of  our  people  have  been  killed,  and  our  young  men, 
who  are  gone  to  the  mountains,  are  eager  to  avenge 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  39 

the  blood  of  their  relations,  which  has  been  shed  by 
the  whites.  Our  young  men  are  bad,  and,  if  they 
meet  you,  they  will  believe  that  you  are  carrying 
goods  and  ammunition  to  their  enemies,  and  will  fire 
upon  you.  You  have  told  us  that  this  will  make 
war.  We  know  that  our  great  father  has  many  sol- 
diers and  big  guns,  and  we  are  anxious  to  have  our 
lives.  We  love  the  whites,  and  are  desirous  of 
peace.  Thinking  of  all  these  things,  we  have  deter- 
mined to  keep  you.  here  until  our  warriors  return. 
We  are  glad  to  see  you  among  us.  Our  father  is 
rich-,  and  we  expected  that  you  would  have  brought 
presents  to  us — horses,  and  guns,  and  blankets.  But 
we  are  glad  to  see  you.  We  look  upon  your  coming 
as  the  light  which  goes  before  the  sun ;  for  you  will 
tell  our  great  father  that  you  have  seen  us,  and  that 
we  are  naked  and  poor,  and  have  nothing  to  eat ;  and 
he  will  send  us  all  these  things/  He  was  followed 
by  the  others  to  the  same  effect. 

"  The  observations  of  the  savage  appeared  reason- 
able ;  but  I  was  aware  that  they  had  in  view  only  the 
present  object  of  detaining  me,  and  were  unwilling 
I  should  go  further  into  the  country.  In  reply,  I 
asked  them,  through  the  interpreter,  Mr.  Boudeau, 
to  select  two  or  three  of  their  number  to  accompany 
us  until  we  should  meet  their  people — they  should 
spread  their  robes  in  my  tent  and  eat  at  my  table, 
and  on  our  return  I  would  give  them  presents  in  re- 
ward of  their  services.  They  declined,  saying  that 
there  were  no  young  men  left  in  the  village,  and  that 
they  were  too  old  to  travel  so  many  days  on  horse- 
back, and  preferred  now  to  smoke  their  pipes  in  the 


40  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

lodge,  and  let  the  warriors  go  on  the  war-path.  Be- 
sides, they  had  no  power  over  the  young  men,  and 
were  afraid  to  interfere  with  them.  In  my  turn  I 
addressed  them :  '  You  say  that  you  love  the  whites ; 
why  have  you  killed  so  many  already  this  Spring? 
You  say  that  you  love  the  whites,,  and  are  full  of 
many  expressions  of  friendship  to  us;  but  you  are 
not  willing  to  undergo  the  fatigue  of  a  few  days' 
ride  to  save  our  lives.  We  do  not  believe  what  you 
have  said,  and  will  not  listen  to  you.  Whatever  a 
chief  among  us  tells  his  soldiers  to  do,  is  done.  We 
are  the  soldiers  of  the  great  chief,  your  father.  He 
has  told  us  to  come  here  and  see  this  country,  and  all 
the  Indians,  his  children.  Why  should  we  not  go? 
Before  we  came,  we  heard  that  you  had  killed  his 
people,  and  ceased  to  be  his  children;  but  we  came 
among  you  peaceably,  holding  out  our  hands.  Now 
we  find  that  the  stories  we  heard  are  not  lies,  and 
that  you  are  no  longer  his  friends  and  children. 
We  have  thrown  away  our  bodies,  and  will  not  turn 
back.  When  you  told  us  that  your  young  men 
would  kill  us,  you  did  not  know  that  our  hearts  were 
strong,  and  you  did  not  see  the  rifles  which  my 
young  men  carry  in  their  hands.  We  are  few,  and 
you  are  many,  and  may  kill  us  all ;  but  there  will  be 
much  crying  in  your  villages,  for  many  of  your 
young  men  will  stay  behind,  and  forget  to  return 
with  your  warriors  from  the  mountains.  Do  you 
think  that  our  great  chief  will  let  his  soldiers  die, 
and  forget  to  cover  their  graves  ?  Before  the  snows 
melt  again,  his  warriors  will  sweep  away  your  vil- 
lages as  the  fire  does  the  prairie  in  the  autumn. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  41 

See !  I  have  pulled  down  my  white  houses,  and  my 
people  are  ready;  when  the  sun  is  ten  paces  higher, 
we  shall  be  on  the  march.  If  you  have  anything 
to  tell  us,  you  will  say  it  soon/  I  broke  up  the  con- 
ference, as  I  could  do  nothing  with  these  people; 
and,  being  resolved  to  proceed,  nothing  was  to  be 
gained  by  delay.  Accompanied  by  our  hospitable 
friends,  we  returned  to  the  camp.  We  had  mounted 
our  horses,  and  our  parting  salutations  had  been  ex- 
changed, when  one  of  the  chiefs  (the  Bull's  Tail) 
arrived  to  tell  me  that  they  had  determined  to  send  a 
young  man  with  us ;  and  if  I  would  point  out  the 
place  of  our  evening  camp,  he  should  join  us  there. 
*  The  young  man  is  poor-,'  said  he ;  *  he  has  no  horse, 
and  expects  you  to  give  him  one/  I  described  to 
him  the  place  where  I  intended  to  encamp,  and, 
shaking  hands,  in  a  few  minutes  we  were  among  the 
hills,  and  this  last  habitation  of  whites  shut  out  from 
our  view." 

The  intrepid  resolution  evinced  by  Fremont  on 
this  occasion  is  truly  remarkable.  He  was  a  young 
man,  and  life  had  charms  and  ties  as  strong  as  ever 
could  have  appealed,  in  any  heart,  to  the  motives  of 
self-preservation.  A  fond  wife,  and  a  dependent 
and  devoted  mother,  were  anxiously  awaiting  his 
safe  return.  There  was  ample  justification,  had  he 
concluded  to  return.  Indians,  traders,  hunters,  his 
own  people,  even  the  stoutest  of  them  all,  conspired 
with  one  voice  to  implore  him  not  to  expose  him  and 
them  to  what  they  regarded  as  all  but  certain  death. 
It  is,  indeed,  hard  to  tell  upon  what  principles,  or 
by  what  processes  of  reasoning,  he  was  led  to  his 


42  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

inflexible  determination.  Like  many  other  instances 
in  his  history,  it  illustrates  an  extraordinary,  sagac- 
ity and  firmness  of  mind.  He  often  exhibited  simi- 
lar daring,  and  was  always  justified  by  the  result. 
The  decision  at  Fort  Laramie  was  the  turning-point 
in  his  destiny.  If  he  had  yielded  to  the  fears  that 
had  overcome  all  other  minds,  failure  would  have 
been  stamped  upon  him  forever.  But  as  it  was,  he 
won  the  glory  of  inflexible  and  invincible  resolution 
in  the  hearts  of  his  admiring  followers,  and  gave  to 
the  savages  and  all  others  who  dealt  with  him  an 
impression  they  ever  after  retained,  that  he  was  in- 
deed a  BRAVE,  and  that  nothing  could  prevent  his 
accomplishing  whatever  he  undertook. 

At  Fort  Laramie,  an  Indian  lodge,  about  eighteen 
feet  in  diameter,  and  twenty  in  height,  was  procured 
in  place  of  the  tents,  which  had  been  found  too  thin 
to  protect  the  instruments  from  the  penetrating 
rains,  or  to  withstand  the  violent  winds  prevalent  in 
that  region.  These  lodges  constitute  a  warm  and 
dry  shelter  in  cold  and  storms,  and  are  so  con- 
structed as  to  allow  the  lower  part  of  the  sides  to  be 
lifted  up,  permitting  the  breeze  to  pass  freely 
through  them  in  warm  weather.  They  are  particu- 
larly comfortable,  then,  as  mosquitoes  are  never 
known  to  enter  them.  At  the  encampment,  on  the 
close  of  the  first  day's  march,  while  the  men  were 
busily  attempting  to  put  up  the  lodge,  Mr.  Bisson- 
ette,  a  trader  resident  at  Fort  Laramie,  who  had 
agreed  to  accompany  the  party  to  a  limited  point, 
overtook  them.  The  Indian  who  had  been  engaged 
as  a  guide,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  came  in  with 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  43 

Mr.  Bissonette.  Upon  seeing  the  men  engaged  in 
their  unaccustomed  work,  attempting  to  put  up  the 
lodge,  she  laughed  heartily  at  their  awkwardness,  at 
once  took  hold  herself,  and  pitched  it  with  an  expert- 
ness  which  it  was  some  time  before  they  learned  to 
equal. 

The  point  where  the  Platte  leaves  the  Black 
Hills  presents  a  most  remarkable  and  beautiful 
scene.  The  breadth  of  the  stream,  generally  occu- 
pying nearly  the  whole  width  of  the  chasm  through 
which  it  flows,  is  from  two  to  three  hundred  feet. 
The  wall  on  each  side  is  of  perpendicular  rock,  some- 
times even  overhanging,  of  a  bright  red  color,  from 
two  to  four  hundred  feet  high,  crowned  with  green 
summits,  fringed  with  occasional  pines.  The  river 
flows  through  with  a  swift  stream  of  perfectly  clear 
water,  occasionally  broken  into  rapids. 

"  July  28.  We  continued  our  way,  and  four  miles 
beyond  the  ford  Indians  were  discovered  again ;  and 
I  halted  while  a  party  was  sent  forward  to  ascertain 
who  they  were.  In  a  short  time  they  returned,  ac- 
companied by  a  number  of  Indians  of  the  Oglallah 
band  of  Sioux.  They  gave  us  a  very  discouraging 
picture  of  the  country.  The  great  drought  and  the 
plague  of  grasshoppers  had  swept  it  so  that  scarce  a 
blade  of  grass  was  to  be  seen,  and  there  was  not  a 
buffalo  to  be  found  in  the  whole  region.  Their  peo- 
ple, they  further  said,  had  been  nearly  starved  to 
death,  and  we  would  find  their  road  marked  by 
lodges  which  they  had  thrown  away  in  order  to 
move  more  rapidly,  and  by  the  carcasses  of  the 
horses  which  they  had  eaten,  or  which  had  perished 
by  starvation.  Such  was  the  prospect  before  us. 


44  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

"  When  he  had  finished  the  interpretation  of  these 
things,  Mr.  Bissonette  immediately  rode  up  to  me, 
and  urgently  advised  that  I  should  entirely  abandon 
the  further  prosecution  of  my  exploration.  '  The 
best  advice  I  can  give  you,  is  to  turn  back  at  once/ 
It  was  his  own  intention  to  return,  as  we  had  now 
reached  the  point  to  which  he  had  engaged  to  attend 
me.  In  reply  I  called  up  my  men,  and  communi- 
cated to  them  fully  the  information  I  had  just  re- 
ceived. I  then  expressed  to  them  my  fixed  deter- 
mination to  proceed  to  the  end  of  the  enterprise  on 
which  I  had  been  sent;  but  as  the  situation  of  the 
country  gave  me  some  reason  to  apprehend  that  it 
might  be  attended  with  an  unfortunate  result  to 
some  of  us,  I  would  leave  it  optional  with  them  to 
continue  with  me  or  to  return. 

"  Among  them  were  some  five  or  six  who  I  knew 
would  remain.  We  had  still  ten  days'  provisions; 
and,  should  no  game  be  found,  when  this  stock  was 
expended,  we  had  our  horses  and  mules,^  which  we 
could  eat  when  other  means  of  subsistence  failed.  But 
not  a  man  flinched  from  the  undertaking.  *  We'll 
eat  the  mules,'  said  Basil  Lajeunesse;  and  thereupon 
we  shook  hands  with  our  interpreter  and  his  Indians, 
and  parted.  With  them  I  sent  back  one  of  my  men, 
Dumes,  whom  the  effects  of  an  old  wound  in  the  leg 
rendered  incapable  of  continuing  the  journey  on 
foot,  and  his  horse  seemed  on  the  point  of  giving 
out.  Having  resolved  to  disencumber  ourselves  im- 
mediately of  everything  not  absolutely  necessary  to 
our  future  operations,  I  turned  directly  in  toward 
the  river,  and  encamped  on  the  left  bank,  a  little 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMOHT  45 

above  the  place  where  our  council  had  been  held,  and 
where  a  thick  grove  of  willows  offered  a  suitable 
spot  for  the  object  I  had  in  view. 

"  The  carts  having  been  discharged,  the  covers 
and  wheels  were  taken  off,  and,  with  the  frames, 
carried  into  some  low  places  among  the  willows,  and 
concealed  in  the  dense  foliage  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  glitter  of  the  iron  work  might  not  attract  the  ob- 
servation of  some  straggling  Indian.  In  the  sand, 
which  had  been  blown  up  into  waves  among  the  wil- 
lows, a  large  hole  was  then  dug,  ten  feet  square  and 
six  deep.  In  the  meantime,  all  our  effects  had  been 
spread  out  upon  the  ground,  and  whatever  was  de- 
signed to  be  carried  along  with  us  separated  and  laid 
aside,  and  the  remaining  part  carried  to  the  hole  and 
carefully  covered  up.  As  much  as  possible,  all 
traces  of  our  proceedings  were  obliterated,  and  it 
wanted  but  a  rain  to  render  our  cache  safe  beyond 
discovery.  All  the  men  were  now  set  at  work  to 
arrange  the  pack-saddles  and  make  up  the  packs." 

On  the  return  of  the  party,  a  month  afterwards, 
this  cache  was  found  unmolested. 

Following  up  the  Platte,  they  passed  the  lofty  es- 
carpments of  red  argillaceous  sandstone,  called  the 
Red  Buttes.  The  Hot  Spring  Gate  is  about  four 
hundred  yards  in  length.  The  river  flows  through 
with  a  quiet  and  even  current.  On  each  side  is  a 
smooth  green  shelf  of  prairie.  The  walls  are  of 
white  sandstone,  rise  perpendicularly,  and  are  about 
seventy  yards  apart.  The  height  of  the  lower  one 
of  the  two  was  found  to  be  three  hundred  and  sixty 
feet 


46  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

On  the  3ist  of  July  they  left  the  Platte,  and 
crossed  to  the  Sweetwater  River.  The  next  day 
they  reached  the  vicinity  of  Rock  Independence,  an 
isolated  mass  of  granite,  about  six  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  long,  and  forty  high.  A  few  miles  further  is 
the  Devil's  Gate.  The  length  of  the  passage  is 
about  three  hundred  yards,  and  its  width  thirty-five 
yards.  The  walls  are  vertical,  of  granite,  about 
four  hundred  feet  in  height.  On  the  8th  of  August 
they  entered  the  SOUTH  PASS. 

"  About  six  miles  from  our  encampment  brought 
us  to  the  summit.  The  ascent  had  been  so  gradual, 
that,  with  all  the  intimate  knowledge  possessed  by 
Carson,  who  had  made  this  country  his  home  for 
seventeen  years,  we  were  obliged  to  watch  very 
closely  to  find  the  place  at  which  we  had  reached  the 
culminating  point.  This  was  between  two  low  hills, 
rising  on  either  hand  fifty  or  sixty  feet.  When  I 
looked  back  at  them,  from  the  foot  of  the  immediate 
slope  on  the  western  plain,  their  summits  appeared  to 
be  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above.  From 
the  impression  on  my  mind  at  this  time,  and  subse- 
quently on  our  return,  I  should  compare  the  eleva- 
tion which  we  surmounted  immediately  at  the  Pass, 
to  the  ascent  of  the  Capitol  hill  from  the  avenue  at 
Washington.  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  fix  positively 
the  breadth  of  this  pass.  From  the  broken  ground 
where  it  commences,  at  the  foot  of  the  Wind  River 
chain,  the  view  to  the  southeast  is  over  a  champaign 
country,  broken,  at  the  distance  of  nineteen  miles,  by 
the  Table  Rock ;  which,  with  the  other  isolated  hills 
in  its  vicinity,  seems  to  stand  on  a  comparative  plain. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  47 

This  I  judged  to  be  its  termination,  the  ridge  recov- 
ering its  rugged  character  with  the  Table  Rock.  It 
will  be  seen  that  it  in  no  manner  resembles  the  places 
to  which  the  term  is  commonly  applied;  nothing  of 
the  gorge-like  character  and  winding  ascents  of  the 
Alleghany  passes  in  America;  nothing  of  the  Great 
St.  Bernard  and  Simplon  passes  in  Europe.  Ap- 
proaching it  from  the  mouth  of  the  Sweetwater,  a 
sandy  plain,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long, 
conducts  by  a  gradual  and  regular  ascent,  to  the 
summit,  about  seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea; 
and  the  traveller,  without  being  reminded  of  any 
change  by  toilsome  ascents,  suddenly  finds  himself 
on  the  waters  which  flow  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  By 
the  route  we  had  travelled,  the  distance  from  Fort 
Laramie  is  three  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  or  nine 
hundred  and  fifty  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas." 

From  the  South  Pass,  the  route  continued  behind, 
or  to  the  westward  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains, 
among  the  head  streams  of  the  Colorado.  But  here 
Fremont  must  be  allowed  to  tell  his  own  story : — 

"  August  10.  The  air  at  sunrise  is  clear  and  pure, 
and  the  morning  extremely  cold,  but  beautiful.  A 
little  before  sunrise  the  thermometer  was  at  35°,  and 
at  sunrise  33°.  Water  froze  last  night,  and  fires 
are  very  comfortable.  The  scenery  becomes  hourly 
more  interesting  and  grand,  and  the  view  here  is 
magnificent ;  but,  indeed,  it  needs  something  to  repay 
the  long  prairie  journey  of  a  thousand  miles.  We 
were  now  approaching  the  loftiest  part  of  the  Wind 
River  chain ;  and  I  left  the  valley  a  few  miles  from 
our  encampment,  intending  to  penetrate  the  moun- 


48  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

tains  as  far  as  possible  with  the  whole  party.  We 
were  soon  involved  in  very  broken  ground,  among 
long  ridges  covered  with  fragments  of  granite. 
Winding  our  way  up  a  long  ravine,  we  came  unex- 
pectedly in  view  of  a  most  beautiful  lake,  set  like  a 
gem  in  the  mountains.  The  sheet  of  water  lay 
transversely  across  the  direction  we  had  been  pur- 
suing ;  and,  descending  the  steep,  rocky  ridge,  where 
it  was  necessary  to  lead  our  horses,  we  followed  its 
banks  to  the  southern  extremity.  Here  a  view  of 
the  utmost  magnificence  and  grandeur  burst  upon 
our  eyes.  With  nothing  between  us  and  their  feet 
to  lessen  the  effect  of  the  whole  height,  a  grand  bed 
of  snow-capped  mountains  rose  before  us,  pile  upon 
pile,  glowing  in  the  bright  light  of  an  August  day. 
Immediately  below  them  lay  the  lake,  between  two 
ridges,  covered  with  dark  pines,  which  swept  down 
from  the  main  chain  to  the  spot  where  we  stood. 
Here  we  set  about  our  preparations  for  ascending 
the  mountains.  I  was  desirous  to  keep  strictly 
within  the  scope  of  my  instructions;  and  it  would 
have  required  ten  or  fifteen  additional  days  for  the 
accomplishment  of  this  object;  our  animals  had  be- 
come very  much  worn  out  with  the  length  of  the 
journey ;  game  was  very  scarce ;  and,  though  it  does 
not  appear  in  the  course  of  the  narrative,  (as  I  have 
avoided  dwelling  upon  trifling  incidents  not  con- 
nected with  the  objects  of  the  expedition,)  the  spirits 
of  the  men  had  been  much  exhausted  by  the  hard- 
ships and  privations  to  which  they  had  been  sub- 
jected. Our  provisions  had  wellnigh  all  disap- 
peared. Bread  had  been  long  out  of  the  question; 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  49 

and  of  all  our  stock,  we  had  remaining  two  or  three 
pounds  of  coffee,  and  a  small  quantity  of  macaroni, 
which  had  been  husbanded  with  great  care  for  the 
mountain  expedition  we  were  about  to  undertake. 
Our  daily  meal  consisted  of  dry  buffalo  meat,  cooked 
in  tallow ;  and,  as  we  had  not  dried  this  with  Indian 
skill,  part  of  it  was  spoiled;  and  what  remained  of 
good,  was  as  hard  as  wood,  having  much  the  taste 
and  appearance  of  so  many  pieces  of  bark.  Even 
of  this,  our  stock  was  rapidly  diminishing  in  a  camp 
which  was  capable  of  consuming  two  buffaloes  in 
every  twenty-four  hours.  These  animals  had  en- 
tirely disappeared ;  and  it  was  not  probable  that  we 
should  fall  in  with  them  again  until  we  returned  to 
the  Sweetwater. 

"  Our  arrangements  for  the  ascent  were  rapidly 
completed.  We  were  in  a  hostile  country,  which 
rendered  the  greatest  vigilance  and  circumspection 
necessary.  The  pass  at  the  north  end  of  the  moun- 
tain was  generally  infested  by  Blackf eet ;  and  imme- 
diately opposite  was  one  of  their  forts,  on  the  edge 
of  a  little  thicket,  two  or  three  hundred  feet  from 
our  encampment.  We  were  posted  in  a  grove  of 
beech,  on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  and  a  f,ew  hundred 
feet  long,  with  a  narrow  prairillon  on  the  inner  side, 
bordered  by  the  rocky  ridge.  In  the  upper  end  of 
this  grove  we  cleared  a  circular  space  about  forty 
feet  in  diameter,  and  with  the  felled  timber  and  in- 
terwoven branches,  surounded  it  with  a  breastwork 
five  feet  in  height.  A  gap  was  left  for  a  gate  on  the 
inner  side,  by  which  the  animals  were  to  be  driven 
in  and  secured,  while  the  men  slept  around  the  little 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V.  — 4 


50  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

work.  It  was  half  hidden  by  the  foliage;  and,  gar- 
risoned by  twelve  resolute  men,  would  have  set  at 
defiance  any  band  of  savages  which  might  chance  to 
discover  them  in  the  interval  of  our  absence.  Fif- 
teen of  the  best  mules,  with  fourteen  men,  were  se- 
lected for  the  mountain  party.  Our  provisions  con- 
sisted of  dried  meat  for  two  days,  with  our  little 
stock  of  coffee  and  some  macaroni.  In  addition  to 
the  barometer  and  a  thermometer,  I  took  with  me  a 
sextant  and  spy-glass,  and  we  had,  of  course,  our 
compasses.  In  charge  of  the  camp  I  left  Bernier, 
one  of  my  most  trustworthy  men,  who  possessed  the 
most  determined  courage. 

"August  12.  Early  in  the  morning  we  left  the 
campi,  fifteen  in  number,  well-armed,  of  course,  and 
mounted  on  our  best  mules.  A  pack  animal  carried 
our  provisions,  with  a  coffee-pot  and  kettle,  and 
three  or  four  tin  cups.  Every  man  had  a  blanket 
strapped  over  his  saddle,  to  serve  for  his  bed,  and 
the  instruments  were  carried  by  turns  on  their  backs. 
We  entered  directly  on  rough  and  rocky  ground ;  and 
just  after  crossing  the  ridge,  had  the  good  fortune  to 
shoot  an  antelope.  We  heard  the  roar,  and  had  a 
glimpse  of  a  waterfall  as  we  rode  along;  and,  cross- 
ing in  our  way  two  fine  streams,  tributary  to  the 
Colorado,  in  about  two  hours'  ride  we  reached  the 
top  of  the  first  row  or  range  of  the  mountains. 
Here,  again,  a  view  of  the  most  romantic  beauty  met 
our  eyes.  It  seemed  as  if,  from  the  vast  expanse  of 
uninteresting  prairie  we  had  passed  over,  Nature 
had  collected  all  her  beauties  together  in  one  chosen 
place,  We  were  overlooking  a  deep  valley,  which 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  5 1 

was  entirely  occupied  by  three  lakes,  and  from  the 
brink  the  surrounding  ridges  rose  precipitously  five 
hundred  and  a  thousand  feet,  covered  with  the  dark 
green  of  the  balsam  pine,  relieved  on  the  border  of 
the  lake  with  the  light  foliage  of  the  aspen.  They 
all  communicated  with  each  other ;  and  the  green  of 
the  waters,  common  to  mountain  lakes  of  great 
depth,  showed  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  cross 
them.  The  surprise  manifested  by  our  guides  when 
these  impassable  obstacles  suddenly  barred  our  prog- 
ress, proved  that  they  were  among  the  hidden  treas- 
ures of  the  place,  unknown  even  to  the  wandering 
trappers  of  the  region.  Descending  the  hill,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  make  our  way  along  the  margin  to  the 
southern  extremity.  A  narrow  strip  of  angular 
fragments  of  rocks  sometimes  afforded  a  rough 
pathway  for  our  mules,  but  generally  we  rode  along 
the  shelving  side,  occasionally  scrambling  up,  at  a 
considerable  risk  of  tumbling  back  into  the  lake. 

"  We  had  reached  a  very  elevated  point,  and  in 
the  valley  below,  and  among  the  hills,  were  a  number 
of  lakes  at  different  levels ;  some,  two  or  three  hun- 
dred feet  above  others,  with  which  they  communi- 
cated by  foaming  torrents.  Even  to  our  great 
height,  the  roar  of  the  cataracts  came  up,  and  we 
could  see  them  leaping  down  in  lines  of  snowy  foam. 
From  this  scene  of  busy  waters,  we  turned  abruptly 
into  the  stillness  of  a  forest,  where  we  rode  among 
the  open  bolls  of  the  pines,  over  a  lawn  of  verdant 
grass,  having  strikingly  the  air  of  cultivated 
grounds.  This  led  us,  after  a  time,  among  masses 
of  rock  which  had  no  vegetable  earth  but  in  hollows 


52  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

and  crevices,  though  still  the  pine  forest  continued. 
Toward  evening,  we  reached  a  defile,  or  rather  a  hole 
in  the  mountains,  entirely  shut  in  by  dark  pine-cov- 
ered rocks. 

"  I  determined  to  leave  our  animals  here,  and 
make  the  rest  of  our  way  on  foot.  The  peak  ap- 
peared so  near  that  there  was  no  doubt  of  our  re- 
turning before  night;  and  a  few  men  were  left  in 
charge  of  the  mules,  with  our  provisions  and 
blankets.  We  took  with  us  nothing  but  our  arms 
and  instruments,  and,  as  the  day  had  become  warm, 
the  greater  part  left  their  coats.  Having  made  an 
early  dinner,  we  started  again.  We  were  soon  in- 
volved in  the  most  ragged  precipices,  nearing  the 
central  chain  very  slowly,  and  rising  but  little.  The 
first  ridge  hid  a  succession  of  others ;  and  when,  with 
great  fatigue  and  difficulty,  we  had  climbed  up  five 
hundred  feet,  it  was  but  to  make  an  equal  descent  on 
the  other  side ;  all  these  intervening  places  were  filled 
with  small  deep  lakes,  which  met  the  eye  in  every  di- 
rection, descending  from  one  level  to  another,  some- 
times under  bridges  formed  by  huge  fragments  of 
granite,  beneath  which  was  heard  the  roar  of  the 
water.  These  constantly  obstructed  our  path,  forc- 
ing us  to  make  long  detours;  frequently  obliged  to 
retrace  our  steps,  and  frequently  falling  among  the 
rocks.  Maxwell  was  precipitated  toward  the  face 
of  a  precipice,  and  saved  himself  from  going  over 
by  throwing  himself  flat  on  the  ground.  We  clam- 
bered on,  always  expecting  with  every  ridge  that 
we  crossed  to  reach  the  foot  of  the  peaks,  and  always 
disappointed,  until  about  four  o'clock,  when,  pretty 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  53 

well  worn  out,  we  reached  the  shore  of  a  little  lake 
in  which  there  was  a  rocky  island.  . 

"  By  the  time  we  had  reached  the  further  side  of 
the  lake,  we  found  ourselves  all  exceedingly  fa- 
tigued, and,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  whole 
party,  we  encamped.  The  spot  we  had  chosen  was 
a  broad,  flat  rock,  in  some  measure  protected  from 
the  winds  by  the  surrounding  crags,  and  the  trunks 
of  fallen  pines  afforded  us  bright  fires.  Near  by 
was  a  foaming  torrent,  which  tumbled  into  the  little 
lake  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  us,  and 
which,  by  way  of  distinction,  we  have  called  Island 
Lake.  We  had  reached  the  upper  limit  of  the  piney 
region ;  as,  above  this  point,  no  tree  was  to  be  seen, 
and  patches  of  snow  lay  everywhere  around  us  on 
the  cold  sides  of  the  rocks.  The  flora  of  the  region 
we  had  traversed  since  leaving  our  mules  was  ex- 
tremely rich,  and,  among  the  characteristic  plants, 
the  scarlet  flowers  of  the  dodecatheon  dentatum 
everywhere  met  the  eye  in  great  abundance.  A 
small  green  ravine,  on  the  edge  of  which  we  were 
encamped,  was  filled  with  a  profusion  of  alpine 
plants  in  brilliant  bloom. 

"  On  every  side  as  we  advanced  was  heard  the 
roar  of  waters  and  of  a  torrent  which  we  followed 
up  a  short  distance,  until  it  expanded  into  a  lake 
about  one  mile  in  length.  On  the  northern  side  of 
the  lake  was  a  bank  of  ice,  or  rather  of  snow,  cov- 
ered with  a  crust  of  ice.  Carson  had  been  our  guide 
into  the  mountains,  and,  agreeably  to  his  advice, 
we  left  this  little  valley  and  took  to  the  ridges  again ; 
which  we  found  extremely  broken,  and  where  we 


54  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

were  again  involved  among  precipices.  Here  were 
ice-fields ;  among  which  we  were  all  dispersed,  seek- 
ing each  the  best  path  to  ascend  the  peak.  Mr. 
Preuss  attempted  to  walk  along  the  upper  edge  of 
one  of  these  fields,  which  sloped  away  at  an  angle 
of  about  twenty  degrees;  but  his  feet  slipped  from 
under  him  and  he  went  plunging  down  the  plane. 
A  few  hundred  feet  below,  at  the  bottom,  were  some 
fragments  of  sharp  rock  on  which  he  landed;  and 
though  he  turned  a  couple  of  somersaults,  fortu- 
nately received  no  injury  beyond  a  few  bruises. 
Two  of  the  men,  Clement  Lambert  and  Descoteaux, 
had  been  taken  ill,  and  lay  down  on  the  rocks  a  short 
distance  below ;  and  at  this  point  I  was  attacked  with 
headache  and  giddiness,  accompanied  by  vomiting. 
Finding  myself  unable  to  proceed,,  I  sent  the  ba- 
rometer over  to  Mr.  Preuss,  who  was  in  a  gap  two 
or  three  hundred  yards  distant,  desiring  him  to 
reach  the  peak,  if  possible,  and  take  an  observation 
there.  He  found  himself  unable  to  proceed  further 
in  that  direction,  and  took  an  observation,  where  the 
barometer  stood  at  19.401 ;  attached  thermometer 
50°,  in  the  gap.  Carson,  who  had  gone  over  to 
him,  succeeded  in  reaching  one  of  the  snowy  sum- 
mits of  the  main  ridge,  whence  he  saw  the  peak  to- 
wards which  all  our  efforts  had  been  directed,  tower- 
ing eight  or  ten  hundred  feet  into  the  air  above  him. 
In  the  meantime,  finding  myself  grow  rather  worse 
than  better,  and  doubtful  how  far  my  strength  would 
carry  me),  I  sent  Basil  Lajeunesse,  with  four  men, 
back  to  the  place  where  the  mules  had  been  left. 
"  We  were  now  better  acquainted  with  the 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  55 

topography  of  the  country,  and  I  directed  him  to 
bring  back  with  him,  if  it  were  in  any  way  possible, 
four  or  five  mules,  with  provisions  and  blankets. 
With  me  were  Maxwell  and  Ayer;  and  after  we  had 
remained  nearly  an  hour  on  the  rock,  it  became  so 
unpleasantly  cold,  though  the  day  was  bright,  that 
we  set  out  on  our  return  to  the  camp,  at  which  we 
all  arrived  safely,  straggling  in  one  after  the  other. 
I  continued  ill  during  the  afternoon,  but  became  bet- 
ter towards  sundown,  when  my  recovery  was  com- 
pleted by  the  appearance  of  Basil  and  four  men,  all 
mounted.  The  men  who  had  gone  with  him  had 
been  too  much  fatigued  to  return,  and  were  relieved 
by  those  in  charge  of  the  horses ;  but  in  his  powers 
of  endurance  Basil  resembled  more  a  mountain  goat 
than  a  man.  They  brought  blankets  and  provisions, 
and  we  enjoyed  well  our  dried  meat  and  a  cup  of 
good  coffee.  We  rolled  ourselves  up  in  our  blankets, 
and,  with  our  feet  turned  to  a  blazing  fire,  slept 
soundly  until  morning. 

"August  15.  It  had  been  supposed  that  we  had 
finished  with  the  mountains;  and  the  evening  be- 
fore it  had  been  arranged  that  Carson  should  set  out 
at  daylight  and  return  to  breakfast  at  the  Camp  of 
the  Mules,  taking  with  him  all  but  four  or  five  men, 
who  were  to  stay  with  me  and  bring  back  the  mules 
and  instruments.  Accordingly,  at  the  break  of  day 
they  set  out.  With  Mr.  Preuss  and  myself  re- 
mained Basil  Lajeunesse,  Clement  Lambert,  Janisse, 
and  Descoteaux.  When  we  had  secured  strength 
for  the  day  by  a  hearty  breakfast,  we  covered  what 
remained,  which  was  enough  for  one  meal,  with 


56  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

rocks,  in  order  that  it  might  be  safe  from  any 
marauding  bird ;  and,  saddling  our  mules,  turned  our 
faces  once  more  towards  the  peaks.  This  time  we 
determined  to  proceed  quietly  and  cautiously,  de- 
liberately resolved  to  accomplish  our  object  if  it 
were  within  the  compass  of  human  means.  We 
were  of  opinion  that  a  long  defile  which  lay  to  the 
left  of  yesterday's  route  would  lead  us  to  the  foot  of 
the  main  peak.  Our  mules  had  been  refreshed  by 
the  fine  grass  in  the  little  ravine  at  the  Island  camp, 
and  we  intended  to  ride  up  the  defile  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, in  order  to  husband  our  strength  for  the  main 
ascent.  Though  this  was  a  fine  passage,  still,  it  was 
a  defile  of  the  most  rugged  mountains  known,  and 
we  had  many  a  rough  and  steep  slippery  place  to 
cross  before  reaching  the  end.  In  this  place  the  sun 
rarely  shone ;  snow  lay  along  the  border  of  the  small 
stream  which  flowed  through  it,  and  occasional 
icy  passages  made  the  footing  of  the  mules  very  inse- 
cure, and  the  rocks  and  ground  were  moist  with  the 
trickling  waters  in  this  spring  of  mighty  rivers. 
We  soon  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  ourselves  riding 
along  the  huge  wall  which  forms  the  central  summit 
of  the  chain.  There  at  last  it  rose  by  our  sides,  a 
nearly  perpendicular  wall  of  granite,  terminating 
2,000  to  3,000  feet  above  our  heads  in  a  serrated  line 
of  broken,  jagged  cones.  We  rode  on  until  we  came 
almost  immediately  below  the  main  peak,  which  I 
denominated  the  Snow  Peak,  as  it  exhibited  more 
snow  to  the  eye  than  any  of  the  neighboring  sum- 
mits. Here  were  three  small  lakes  of  a  green 
color,  each  of  perhaps  a  thousand  yards  in  diameter, 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  $? 

and  apparently  very  deep.  These  lay  in  a  kind  of 
chasm ;  and,  according  to  the  barometer,  we  had  at- 
tained but  a  few  hundred  feet  above  the  Island  lake. 
The  barometer  here  stood  at  20.450,  attached  ther- 
mometer 70°. 

"  We  managed  to  get  our  mules  up  to  a  little 
bench  about  a  hundred  feet  above  the  lakes,  where 
there  was  a  patch  of  good  grass,  and  turned  them 
loose  to  graze.  During  our  rough  ride  to  this  place, 
they  had  exhibited  a  wonderful  surefootedness. 
Parts  of  the  defile  were  filled  with  angular,  sharp 
fragments  of  rock,  three  or  four  and  eight  or  ten  feet 
cube ;  and  among  these  they  had  worked  their  way, 
leaping  from  one  narrow  point  to  another,  rarely 
making  a  false  step,  and  giving  us  no  occasion  to 
dismount.  Having  divested  ourselves  of  every  un- 
necessary encumbrance,  we  commenced  the  ascent. 
This  time,  like  experienced  travellers,  we  did  not 
press  ourselves,  but  climbed  leisurely,  sitting  down 
so  soon  as  we  found  breath  beginning  to  fail.  At 
intervals,  we  reached  places  where  a  number  of 
springs  gushed  from  the  rocks,  and  about  1,800  feet 
above  the  lakes  came  to  the  snow  line.  From  this 
point  our  progress  was  uninterrupted  climbing. 
Hitherto,  I  had  worn  a  pair  of  thick  moccasins,  with 
soles  of  parfieche;  but  here  I  put  on  a  light  thin  pair, 
which  I  had  brought  for  the  purpose,  as  now  the  use 
of  our  toes  became  necessary  to  a  further  advance. 
I  availed  myself  of  a  sort  of  comb  of  the  mountain, 
which  stood  against  the  wall  like  a  buttress,  and 
which  the  wind  and  the  solar  radiation,  joined  to  the 
steepness  of  the  smooth  rock,  had  kept  almost  entire- 


58  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

ly  free  from  snow.  Up  this  I  made  my  way  rapidly. 
Our  cautious  method  of  advancing  in  the  outset  had 
spared  my  strength;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a 
slight  disposition  to  headache,  I  felt  no  remains  of 
yesterday's  illness.  In  a  few  minutes  we  reached  a 
point  where  the  buttress  was  overhanging,  and  there 
was  no  other  way  of  surmounting  the  difficulty  than 
by  passing  around  one  side  of  it,  which  was  the  face 
of  a  vertical  precipice  of  several  hundred  feet. 

"  Around  us,  the  whole  scene  had  one  main  strik- 
ing feature,  which  was  that  of  terrible  convulsion. 
Parallel  to  its  length,  the  ridge  was  split  into  chasms 
and  fissures;  between  which  rose  the  thin,  lofty  walls, 
terminated  with  slender  minarets  and  columns,  which 
is  correctly  represented  in  the  view  from  the  camp 
on  Island  Lake.  According  to  the  barometer,  the 
little  crest  of  the  wall  on  which  we  stood  was  three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  feet  above  that 
place,  and  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
above  the  little  lakes  at  the  bottom,  immediately  at 
.our  feet.  Our  camp  at  the  Two  Hills  (an  astronom- 
ical station)  bore  south  3°  east,  which,  with  a 
bearing  afterward  obtained  from  a  fixed  position, 
enabled  us  to  locate  the  peak.  The  bearing  of  the 
Trois  Tetons  was  north  50°  west,  and  the  direction 
of  the  central  ridge  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains 
south  39°  east.  The  summit  rock  was  gneiss,  suc- 
ceeded by  sienitic  gneiss.  Sienite  and  feldspar  suc- 
ceeded in  our  descent  to  the  snow  line,  where  we 
found  a  feldspathic  granite.  I  had  remarked  that 
the  noise  produced  by  the  explosion  of  our  pistols 
had  the  usual  degree  of  loudness,  but  was  not  in  the 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  $9 

least  prolonged,  expiring  almost  instantaneously. 
Having  now  made  what  observations  our  means  af- 
forded, we  proceeded  to  descend.  We  had  accom- 
plished an  object  of  laudable  ambition,  and  beyond 
the  strict  order  of  our  instructions.  We  had  climbed 
the  loftiest  peak  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  looked 
down  upon  the  snow  a  thousand  feet  below,  and, 
standing  where  never  human  foot  had  stood  before, 
felt  the  exultation  of  first  explorers.  It  was  about 
two  o'clock  when  we  left  the  summit;  and  when  we 
reached  the  bottom,  the  sun  had  already  sunk  behind 
the  wall,  and  the  day  was  drawing  to  a  close.  It 
would  have  been  pleasant  to  have  lingered  here  and 
on  the  summit  longer ;  but  we  hurried  away  as  rapid- 
ly as  the  ground  would  permit,  for  it  was  an  object 
to  regain  our  party  as  soon  as  possible,  not  knowing 
what  accident  the  next  hour  might  bring  forth. 

"  We  reached  our  deposit  of  provisions  at  night- 
fall. Here  was  not  the  inn  which  awaits  the  tired 
traveller  on  his  return  from  Mont  Blanc,  or  the  or- 
ange groves  of  South  America,  with  their  refreshing 
juices  and  soft  fragrant  air;  but  we  found  our  little 
cache  of  dried  meat  and  coffee  undisturbed.  Though 
the  moon  was  bright,  the  road  was  full  of  precipices, 
and  the  fatigue  of  the  day  had  been  great.  We 
therefore  abandoned  the  idea  of  rejoining  our 
friends,  and  lay  down  on  the  rock,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  cold,  slept  soundly. 

"  August  1 6.  We  left  our  encampment  with  the 
daylight.  We  saw  on  our  way  large  flocks  of  moun- 
tain goat  looking  down  on  us  from  the  cliffs.  At  the 
crack  of  a  rifle  they  would  bound  off  among  the 


60  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

rocks,  and  in  a  few  minutes  make  their  appearance 
on  some  lofty  peak,  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  feet 
above.  It  is  needless  to  attempt  any  further  descrip- 
tion of  the  country ;  the  portion  over  which  we  trav- 
elled this  morning  was  rough  as  imagination  could 
picture  it,  and  to  us  seemed  equally  beautiful.  A 
concourse  of  lakes  and  rushing  waters,  mountains  of 
rocks  naked  and  destitute  of  vegetable  earth,  dells 
and  ravines  of  the  most  exquisite  beauty,  all  kept 
green  and  fresh  by  the  great  moisture  in  the  air,  and 
sown  with  brilliant  flowers,  and  everywhere,  thrown 
around  all,  the  glory  of  the  most  magnificent  scenes ; 
these  constitute  the  features  of  the  place,  and  impress 
themselves  vividly  on  the  mind  of  the  traveller.  It 
was  not  until  eleven  o'clock  that  we  reached  the 
place  where  our  animals  had  been  left  when  we  first 
attempted  the  mountains  on  foot.  Near  one  of  the 
still  burning  fires  we  found  a  piece  of  meat  which  our 
friends  had  thrown  away  and  which  furnished  us  a 
mouthful — a  very  scanty  breakfast.  We  continued 
directly  on  and  reached  our  camp  on  the  mountain 
lake  at  dusk.  We  found  all  well.  Nothing  had  oc- 
curred to  interrupt  the  quiet  since  our  departure,  and 
the  fine  grass  and  good  cool  water  had  done  much  to 
re-establish  our  animals.  All  heard  with  great  de- 
light the  order  to  turn  our  faces  homeward ;  and  to- 
ward sundown  of  the  I7th,  we  encamped  again  at  the 
Two  Buttes." 

The  Peak  which  had  thus  been  reached  was  found 
to  be,  by  the  barometer,  thirteen  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  seventy  feet  above  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  highest  point  of 


JOHN    CHARLES  >  FREMONT  6 1 

the  Rocky  Mountains.  On  the  north,  within  the 
range  of  the  eye,  were  the  snow-clad  mountains  that 
contain  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  and  Missouri, 
on  the  west  the  innumerable  lakes  and  streams  that 
feed  the  Colorado  of  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  on 
the  east  the  springs  of  the  Yellow  Stone  branch  of 
the  Missouri.  On  the  south  the  headwaters  of  the 
Platte  or  Nebraska  gush  from  their  fountains,  and 
not  far  beyond  them  are  the  original  mountain  res- 
ervoirs of  the  Arkansas.  It  is  the  great  central  sum- 
mit of  the  Continent,  and  is  properly  marked,  on  all 
maps,  in  honor  of  the  first  man  that  ever  stood  upon 
it,  Fremont's  Peak. 

The  reader  will  notice,  when  we  reach  the  period 
just  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  California  war,  that 
it  also  fell  to  the  lot  of  Fremont  to  unfurl  the  banner 
of  our  country  for  the  first  time  from  the  top  of  the 
Sierra,  on  a  mountain  range  near  the  Pacific  coast 
at  Hawk's  Peak. 

On  the  1 9th,  the  returning  party  repassed  the  point 
where  the  waters  divide,  to  seek  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  and  reached  Rock  Independence  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  22d.  Except  in  a  depression  on  the  sum- 
mit, where  there  is  a  scanty  growth  of  shrubs  and  a 
solitary  dwarf  pine,  the  rock  is  entirely  bare. 
Wherever  the  surface  is  sufficiently  smooth,  and  in 
some  instances  as  high  up  as  sixty  or  eighty  feet,  the 
names  of  visitors  are  inscribed.  Those  of  traders, 
missionaries,  and  scientific  travellers,  are  legible  at 
all  points. 

Having  planted  the  Flag  of  the  Union  on  the  top- 
most peak  of  the  central  mountains,  and  inscribed 


62  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  symbol  dear  to  all  believing  hearts  upon  the 
mighty  monumental  rock  at  their  base,  he  had  ful- 
filled the  holiest  aspirations  of  patriotism  and  piety, 
and,  as  the  explorer  of  the  vast  interior  of  North 
America,  had  pledged  and  consecrated  it  to  Republi- 
can Freedom  and  Christian  Civilization. 

As  his  instructions  required  him  to  survey  the 
course  and  bed  of  the  Platte,  if  possible,  he  sent  the 
main  body  of  his  men  across  the  country  to  Goat 
Island,  with  orders  to  remain  there  until  he  rejoined 
them,  and  with  Mr.  Preuss  and  five  of  his  best  men, 
namely,  Clement  Lambert,  Basil  Lajeunesse,  Honore 
Ayot,  Benoist,  and  Descoteaux,  he  pursued  the  de- 
scending river.  The  India-rubber  boat  was  filled 
with  air  and  placed  in  the  water,  with  what  was 
necessary  for  their  purpose,  and  they  put  forth  upon 
its  current.  The  thrilling  adventures  of  the  voyage, 
he  relates  as  follows : — 

"  There  appeared  no  scarcity  of  water,  and  we 
took  on  board,  with  various  instruments  and  bag- 
gage, provisions  for  ten  or  twelve  days.  We  paddled 
dawn  the  river  rapidly,  for  our  little  craft  was  light 
as  a  duck  on  the  water ;  and  the  sun  had  been  some- 
time risen  when  we  heard  before  us  a  hollow  roar, 
which  we  supposed  to  be  that  of  a  fall,  of  which  we 
had  heard  a  vague  rumor,  but  whose  exact  locality 
no  one  had  been  able  to  describe  to  us.  We  were  ap- 
proaching a  ridge,  through  which  the  river  passes  by 
a  place  called  'canon/  (pronounced  kanyon,)  a 
Spanish  word  signifying  a  piece  of  artillery,  the 
barrel  of  a  gun,  or  any  kind  of  tube ;  and  which,  in 
this  country,  has  been  adopted  to  describe  the  passage 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  63 

of  a  river  between  perpendicular  rocks  of  great 
height,  which  frequently  approach  each  other  so 
closely  overhead  as  to  form  a  kind  of  tunnel  over  the 
stream,  which  foams  along  below,  half-choked  up  by 
fallen  fragments.  Between  the  mouth  of  the  Sweet- 
water  and  Goat  Island,  there  is  probably  a  fall  of 
three  hundred  feet,  and  that  was  principally  made  in 
the  canons  before  us;  as,  without  them,  the  water 
was  comparatively  smooth.  As  we  neared  the  ridge, 
the  river  made  a  sudden  turn,  and  swept  squarely 
down  against  one  of  the  walls  of  the  canon  with  a 
great  velocity  and  so  steep  a  descent  that  it  had  to 
the  eye  the  appearance  of  an  inclined  plane.  When 
we  launched  into  this,  the  men  jumped  overboard,  to 
check  the  velocity  of  the  boat,  but  were  soon  in  water 
up  to  their  necks,  and  our  boat  ran  on ;  but  we  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  her  to  a  small  point  of  rocks  on 
the  right,  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon.  Here  was  a 
kind  of  elevated  sand  beach,  not  many  yards  square, 
backed  by  the  rocks,  and  around  the  point 
the  river  swept  at  a  right  angle.  Trunks  of  trees  de- 
posited on  jutting  points  twenty  or  thirty  feet  above 
and  other  marks  showed  that  the  water  here  fre- 
quently rose  to  a  considerable  height.  The  ridge 
was  of  the  same  decomposing  granite  already  men- 
tioned, and  the  water  had  worked  the  surface  in 
many  places  into  a  wavy  surface  of  ridges  and  holes. 
We  ascended  the  rocks  to  reconnoitre  the  ground, 
and  from  the  summit  the  passage  appeared  to  be  a 
continued  cataract  foaming  over  many  obstructions 
and  broken  by  a  number  of  small  falls.  We  saw  no- 
where a  fall  answering  to  that  which  had  been  de- 


64  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

scribed  to  us  as  having  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet; 
but  still  concluded  this  to  be  the  place  in  question,  as, 
in  the  season  of  floods,  the  rush  of  the  river  against 
the  wall  would  produce  a  great  rise,  and  the  waters, 
reflected  squarely  off,  would  descend  through  the 
passage  in  a  sheet  of  foam,  having  every  appearance 
of  a  large  fall.  Eighteen  years  previous  to  this  time, 
as  I  subsequently  learned  from  himself,  Mr.  Fitz- 
patrick,  somewhere  above  on  this  river,  had  em- 
barked with  a  valuable  cargo  of  beaver.  Unac- 
quainted with  the  stream,  which  he  believed  would 
conduct  him  safely  to  the  Missouri,  he  came  unex- 
pectedly into  this  canon,  where  he  was  wrecked,  with 
the  total  loss  of  his  furs.  It  would  have  been  a  work 
of  great  time  and  labor  to  pack  our  baggage  across 
the  ridge,  and  I  determined  to  run  the  canon.  We 
all  again  embarked,  and  at  first  attempted  to  check 
the  way  of  the  boat;  but  the  water  swept  through 
with  so  much  violence  that  we  narrowly  escaped  be- 
ing swamped,  and  were  obliged  to  let  her  go  in  the 
full  force  of  the  current  and  trust  to  the  skill  of  the 
boatmen.  The  dangerous  places  in  this  canon  were 
where  huge  rocks  had  fallen  from  above,  and 
hemmed  in  the  already  narrow  pass  of  the  river  to 
an  open  space  of  three  or  four  and  five  feet.  These 
obstructions  raised  the  water  considerably  above, 
which  was  sometimes  precipitated  over  in  a  fall ;  and 
at  other  places,  where  this  dam  was  too  high,  rushed 
through  the  contracted  opening  with  tremendous  vio- 
lence. Had  our  boat  been  made  of  wood,  in  passing 
the  narrows  she  would  have  been  staved;  but  her 
elasticity  preserved  her  unhurt  from  every  shock,  and 
she  seemed  fairly  to  leap  over  the  falls. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  65 

"  In  this  way  we  passed  three  cataracts  in  succes- 
sion, where,  perhaps,  one  hundred  feet  of  smooth 
water  intervened ;  and  finally,  with  a  shout  of  pleas- 
ure at  our  success,  issued  from  our  tunnel  into  the 
open  day  beyond.  We  were  so  delighted  with  the 
performance  of  our  boat,  and  so  confident  in  her 
powers,  that  we  would  not  have  hesitated  to  leap  a 
fall  of  ten  feet  with  her.  We  put  to  shore  for  break- 
fast at  some  willows  on  the  right  bank,  immediately 
below  the  mouth  of  the  canon ;  for  it  was  now  eight 
o'clock,  and  we  had  been  working  since  daylight,  and 
were  all  wet,  fatigued,  and  hungry.  While  the  men 
were  preparing  breakfast,  I  went  out  to  reconnoitre. 
The  view  was  very  limited.  The  course  of  the  river 
was  smooth,  so  far  as  I  could  see ;  on  both  sides  were 
broken  hills;  and  but  a  mile  or  two  below  was  an- 
other high  ridge.  The  rock  at  the  mouth  of  the 
canon  was  still  the  decomposing  granite,  with  great 
quantities  of  mica,  which  made  a  very  glittering 
sand. 

"  We  reembarked  at  rune  o'clock,  and  in  about 
twenty  minutes  reached  the  next  canon.  Landing 
on  a  rocky  shore  at  its  commencement  we  ascended 
the  ridge  to  reconnoitre.  Portage  was  out  of  the 
question.  So  far  as  we  could  see,  the  jagged  rocks 
pointed  out  the  course  of  the  canon,  on  a  winding 
line  of  seven  or  eight  miles.  It  was  simply  a  narrow, 
dark  chasm  in  the  rock ;  and  here  the  perpendicular 
faces  were  much  higher  than  in  the  previous  pass, 
being  at  this  end  two  or  three  hundred,  and  further 
down,  as  we  afterward  ascertained,  five  hundred  feet 
in  vertical  height.  Our  previous  success  had  made 

A.  13.,  VOL.  V.— 5 


66  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

us  bold,  and  we  determined  again  to  run  the  canon. 
Everything  was  secured  as  firmly  as  possible;  and, 
having  divested  ourselves  of  the  greater  part  of  our 
clothing,  we  pushed  into  the  stream.  To  save  our 
chronometer  from  accident,  Mr.  Preuss  took  it,  and 
attempted  to  proceed  along  the  shore  on  the  masses 
of  rock,  which  in  places  were  piled  up  on  either  side ; 
but,  after  he  had  walked  about  five  minutes,  every- 
thing like  shore  disappeared,  and  the  vertical  wall 
came  squarely  down  into  the  water.  He  therefore 
waited  until  we  came  up.  An  ugly  pass  lay  before 
us.  We  had  made  fast  to  the  stern  of  the  boat  a 
strong  rope  about  fifty  feet  long;  and  three  of  the 
men  clambered  along  among  the  rocks,  and  with  this 
rope  let  her  down  slowly  through  the  pass.  In  several 
places  high  rocks  lay  scattered  about  in  the  chan- 
nel; and  in  the  narrows  it  required  all  our  strength 
and  skill  to  avoid  staving  the  boat  on  the  sharp 
points.  In  one  of  these,  the  boat  proved  a  little  too 
broad,  and  stuck  fast  for  an  instant,  while  the  water 
flew  over  us;  fortunately  it  was  but  for  an  instant, 
as  our  united  strength  forced  her  immediately 
through.  The  water  swept  overboard  only  a  sextant 
and  a  pair  of  saddlebags.  I  caught  the  sextant  as  it 
passed  by  me;  but  the  saddlebags  became  the  prey 
of  the  whirlpools.  We  reached  the  place  where  Mr. 
Preuss  was  standing,  took  him  on  board,  and,  with 
the  aid  of  the  boat,  put  the  men  with  the  rope  on  the 
succeeding  pile  of  rocks.  We  found  this  passage 
much  worse  than  the  previous  one,  and  our  position 
was  rather  a  bad  one.  To  go  back  was  impossible; 
before  us,  the  cataract  was  a  sheet  of  foam ;  and,  shut 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  67 

up  in  the  chasm  by  the  rocks,  which  in  some  places 
seemed  almost  to  meet  overhead,  the  roar  of  the 
water  was  deafening.  We  pushed  off  again;  but, 
after  making  a  little  distance,  the  force  of  the  current 
became  too  great  for  the  men  on  shore,  and  two  of 
them  let  go  the  rope.  Lajeunesse,  the  third  man, 
hung  on,  and  was  jerked  headforemost  into  the  river 
from  a  rock  about  twelve  feet  high;  and  down  the 
boat  shot  like  an  arrow,  Basil  following  us  in  the 
rapid  current,  and  exerting  all  his  strength  to  keep 
in  mid  channel — his  head  only  seen  occasionally  like 
a  black  spot  in  the  white  foam.  How  far  we  went, 
I  do  not  exactly  know ;  but  we  succeeded  in  turning 
the  boat  into  an  eddy  below.  *  'Cre  Dieu/  said  Basil 
Lajeunesse,  as  he  arrived  immediately  after  us,  '  Je 
crois  bien  que  j'ai  nage  un  demi  mile/ — '  I  believe, 
indeed,  that  I  have  swum  half  a  mile/  He  had  owed 
his  life  to  his  skill  as  a  swimmer ;  and  I  determined 
to  take  him  and  the  others  on  board  and  trust  to  skill 
and  fortune  to  reach  the  other  end  in  safety.  We 
placed  ourselves  on  our  knees,  with  the  short  paddles 
in  our  hands,  the  most  skilful  boatman  being  at  the 
bow;  and  again  we  commenced  our  rapid  descent. 
We  cleared  rock  after  rock,  and  shot  past  fall  after 
fall,  our  little  boat  seeming  to  play  with  the  cataract. 
We  became  flushed  with  success  and  familiar  with 
the  danger;  and,  yielding  to  the  excitement  of  the 
occasion,  broke  forth  together  into  a  Canadian  boat 
song.  Singing,  or  rather  shouting,  we  dashed  along ; 
and  were,  I  believe,  in  the  midst  of  the  chorus,  when 
the  boat  struck  a  concealed  rock  immediately  at  the 
foot  of  a  fall,  which  whirled  her  over  in  an  instant. 


68  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

Three  of  my  men  could  not  swim,  and  my  first  feel- 
ing was  to  assist  them,  and  save  some  of  our  effects ; 
but  a  sharp  concussion  or  two  convinced  me  that  I 
had  not  yet  saved  myself.  A  few  strokes  brought 
me  into  an  eddy,  and  I  landed  on  a  pile  of  rocks  on 
the  left  side.  Looking  around,  I  saw  that  Mr. 
Preuss  had  gained  the  shore  on  the  same  side,  about 
twenty  yards  below ;  and  a  little  climbing  and  swim- 
ming soon  brought  him  to  my  side.  On  the  opposite 
side,  against  the  wall,  lay  the  boat  bottom  up;  and 
Lambert  was  in  the  act  of  saving  Descoteaux,  whom 
he  had  grasped  by  the  hair,  and  who  could  not  swim ; 
' Locke  pas'  said  he,  as  I  afterward  learned,  '  lache 
paSj  cher  frere/ — Don't  let  go,  don't  let  go,  dear 
brother.'  '  Grains  pas/  was  the  reply,  '  Je  m'en  vais 
mourir  avant  que  de  te  lacker,' — '  Fear  not,  I  will  die 
before  I  let  you  go.'  Such  was  the  reply  of  courage 
and  generosity  in  this  danger.  For  a  hundred  yards 
below,  the  current  was  covered  with  floating  books 
and  boxes,  bales  of  blankets,  and  scattered  articles 
of  clothing ;  and  so  strong  and  boiling  was  the  stream 
that  even  our  heavy  instruments,  which  were  all  in 
cases  kept  on  the  surface,  and  the  sextant,  circle,  and 
the  long  black  box  of  the  telescope,  were  in  view  at 
once.  For  a  moment,  I  felt  somewhat  disheartened. 
All  our  books — almost  every  record  of  the  journey — • 
our  journals  and  registers  of  astronomical  and 
barometrical  observations — had  been  lost  in  a  mo- 
ment. But  it  was  no  time  to  indulge  in  regrets ;  and 
I  immediately  set  about  endeavoring  to  save  some- 
thing from  the  wreck.  Making  ourselves  under- 
stood as  well  as  possible  by  signs,  ( for  nothing  could 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  69 

be  heard  in  the  roar  of  waters,)  we  commenced  our 
operations.  Of  everything  on  board,  'the  only  article 
that  had  been  saved  was  my  double-barrelled  gun, 
which  Descoteaux  had  caught,  and  clung  to  with 
drowning  tenacity.  The  men  continued  down  the 
river  on  the  left  bank.  Mr.  Preuss  and  myself  de- 
scended on  the  side  we  were  on;  and  Lajeunesse, 
with  a  paddle  in  his  hand,  jumped  on  the  boat  alone 
and  continued  down  the  canon.  She  was  now  light, 
and  cleared  every  bad  place  with  much  less  difficulty. 
In  a  short  time,  he  was  joined  by  Lambert ;  and  the 
search  was  continued  for  about  a  mile  and  a  half, 
which  was  as  far  as  the  boat  could  proceed  in  the 
pass. 

"  Here  the  walls  were  about  five  hundred  feet 
high,  and  the  fragments  of  rocks  from  above  had 
choked  the  river  into  a  hollow  pass  but  one  or  two 
feet  above  the  surface.  Through  this  and  the  inter- 
stices of  the  rock  the  water  found  its  way.  Favored 
beyond  our  expectations,  all  of  our  registers  had 
been  recovered,  with  the  exception  of  one  of  my  jour- 
nals, which  contained  the  notes  and  incidents  of 
travel,  and  topographical  descriptions,  a  number  of 
scattered  astronomical  observations,  principally  me- 
ridian altitudes  of  the  sun,  and  our  barometrical  reg- 
ister west  of  Laramie.  Fortunately,  our  other  jour- 
nals contained  duplicates  of  the  most  important 
barometrical  observations  which  had  been  taken  in 
the  mountains.  These,  with  a  few  scattered  notes, 
were  all  that  had  been  preserved  of  our  meteoro- 
logical observations.  In  addition  to  these,  we  saved 
the  circle ;  and  these,  with  a  few  blankets,  constituted 
everything  that  had  been  rescued  from  the  waters. 


70  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

"  The  day  was  running  rapidly  away,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  reach  Goat  Island,  whither  the  party  had 
preceded  us,  before  night.  In  this  uncertain  country, 
the  traveller  is  so  much  in  the  power  of  chance  that 
we  became  somewhat  uneasy  in  regard  to  them. 
Should  anything  have  occurred  in  the  brief  interval 
of  our  separation  to  prevent  our  rejoining  them,  our 
situation  would  be  rather  a  desperate  one.  We  had 
not  a  morsel  of  provisions — our  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion were  gone — and  we  were  entirely  at  the  mercy 
of  any  straggling  party  of  savages,  and  not  a  little 
in  danger  of  starvation.  We  therefore  set  out  at 
once  in  two  parties,  Mr.  Preuss  and  myself  on  the 
left,  and  the  men  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 
Climbing  out  of  the  canon,  we  found  ourselves  in  a 
very  broken  country,  where  we  were  not  yet  able  to 
recognize  any  locality.  The  scenery  was  extremely 
picturesque,  and,  notwithstanding  our  forlorn  condi- 
tion, we  were  frequently  obliged  to  stop  and  admire 
it.  Our  progress  was  not  very  rapid.  We  had 
emerged  from  the  water  half-naked,  and,  on  arriving 
at  the  top  of  the  precipice,  I  found  myself  with  only 
one  moccasin.  The  fragments  of  rock  made  walking 
painful,  and  I  was  frequently  obliged  to  stop  and 
pull  out  the  thorns  of  the  cactus,  here  the  prevailing 
plant,  and  with  which  a  few  minutes*  walk  covered 
the  bottom  of  my  feet.  From  this  ridge  the  river 
emerged  into  a  smiling  prairie,  and,  descending  to 
the  bank  for  water,  we  were  joined  by  Benoist.  The 
remainder  of  the  party  were  out  of  sight,  having 
taken  a  more  inland  route.  We  crossed  the  river  re- 
peatedly— sometimes  able  to  ford  it,  and  sometimes 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  71 

swimming — climbed  over  the  ridges  of  two  more 
canons,  and  towards  evening  reached  the  cut,  which 
we  here  named  the  Hot  Spring  Gate.  On  our  pre- 
vious visit  in  July,  we  had  not  entered  this  pass,  re- 
serving it  for  our  descent  in  the  boat ;  and  when  we 
entered  it  this  evening  Mr.  Preuss  was  a  few  hun- 
dred feet  in  advance.  Heated  with  the  long  march, 
he  came  suddenly  upon  a  fine  bold  spring  gushing 
from  the  rock,  about  ten  feet  above  the  river.  Eager 
to  enjoy  the  crystal  water,  he  threw  himself  down 
for  a  hasty  draught,  and  took  a  mouthful  of  water 
almost  boiling  hot.  He  said  nothing  to  Benoist,  who 
laid  himself  down  to  drink ;  but  the  steam  from  the 
water  arrested  his  eagerness,  and  he  escaped  the  hot 
draught.  We  had  no  thermometer  to  ascertain  the 
temperature,  but  I  could  hold  my  hand  in  the  water 
just  long  enough  to  count  two  seconds.  There  are 
eight  or  ten  of  these  springs,  discharging  themselves 
by  streams  large  enough  to  be  called  runs.  A  loud 
hollow  noise  was  heard  from  the  rock,  which  I  sup- 
posed to  be  produced  by  the  fall  of  the  water.  The 
strata  immediately  where  they  issue  is  a  fine  white 
and  calcareous  sandstone,  covered  with  an  incrusta- 
tion of  common  salt.  Leaving  this  Thermopylae  of 
the  West,  in  a  short  walk  we  reached  the  red  ridge 
which  has  been  described  as  lying  just  above  Goat 
Island.  Ascending  this,  we  found  some  fresh  tracks 
and  a  button,  which  showed  that  the  other  men  had 
already  arrived.  A  shout  from  the  man  who  first 
reached  the  top  of  the  ridge,  responded  to  from  be- 
low, informed  us  that  our  friends  were  all  on  the 
island;  and  we  were  soon  among  them.  We  found 


72  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

some  pieces  of  buffalo  standing  around  the  fire  for 
us,  and  managed  to  get  some  dry  clothes  among  the 
people.  A  sudden  storm  of  rain  drove  us  into  the 
best  shelter  we  could  find,  where  we  slept  soundly, 
after  one  of  the  most  fatiguing  days  I  have  ever 
experienced." 

A  week  afterwards,  at  a  point  of  course  much 
lower  down,  another  attempt  was  made  to  survey 
the  river,  which  is  thus  described : — 

"  At  this  place  I  had  determined  to  make  another 
attempt  to  descend  the  Platte  by  water,  and  accord- 
ingly spent  two  days  in  the  construction  of  a  bull- 
boat.  Men  were  sent  out  on  the  evening  of  our  ar- 
rival, the  necessary  number  of  bulls  killed,  and  their 
skins  brought  to  camp.  Four  of  the  best  of  them 
were  strongly  sewed  together  with  buffalo  sinew, 
and  stretched  over  a  basket  frame  of  willow.  The 
seams  were  then  covered  with  ashes  and  tallow,  and 
the  boat  left  exposed  to  the  sun  for  the  greater  part 
of  one  day,  which  was  sufficient  to  dry  and  contract 
the  skin,  and  make  the  whole  work  solid  and  strong. 
It  had  a  rounded  bow,  was  eight  feet  long  and  five 
broad,  and  drew  with  four  men  about  four  inches 
water.  On  the  morning  of  the  I5th  we  embarked 
in  our  hide-boat,  Mr.  Preuss  and  myself,  with  two 
men.  We  dragged  her  over  the  sands  for  three  or 
four  miles,  and  then  left  her  on  a  bar,  and  abandoned 
entirely  all  further  attempts  to  navigate  this  river. 
The  names  given  by  the  Indians  are  always  remark- 
ably appropriate;  and  certainly  none  was  ever  more 
so  than  that  which  they  have  given  to  this  stream — 
*  The  Nebraska,  or  Shallow  River/  Walking  stead- 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  73 

ily  the  remainder  of  the  day,  a  little  before  dark  we 
overtook  our  people  at  their  evening  camp,  about 
twenty-one  miles  below  the  junction.  The  next 
morning  we  crossed  the  Platte,  and  continued  our 
way  down  the  river  bottom  on  the  left  bank,  where 
we  found  an  excellent,  plainly  beaten  road." 

On  the  morning  of  October  i,  the  cow-bells  were 
heard  at  the  break  of  day  on  the  Missourian  farms. 
St.  Louis  was  reached  on  the  I7th,  and  Lieutenant 
Fremont  reported  himself  to  the  chief  of  his  corps  at 
the  city  of  Washington  on  the  23d  of  October. 


CHAPTER  III 

Second  Expedition. — Kansas. — Salt  Lake. — Columbia  River.— 
Central  Basin. — Sierra  Nevada. — California. — Kit  Carson. — 
Wahsatch  Mountains. — Three  Parks. 

EARLY  in  the  Spring  of  1843,  Mr.  Fremont  started 
on  his  Second  Expedition.  His  instructions  were  to 
connect  his  explorations  of  the  preceding  year  with 
the  surveys  of  Commander  Wilkes  on  the  coast  of 
the  Pacific,  so  as  to  give  a  connected  view  of  the 
great  interior  tracts  of  the  Continent. 

The  party  was  placed  in  a  state  of  final  preparation 
for  its  long  march  at  the  town  of  Kansas,  near  the 
junction  of  the  river  of  that  name  with  the  Missouri. 
Mr.  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  whom  an  experience  of 
many  years'  hardship  and  exposure  in  the  western 
regions  fitted  for  the  post,  was  selected  as  guide,  and 
proved  of  invaluable  service.  Mr.  Charles  Preuss 
was  attached  to  the  expedition  in  the  same  capacity 
as  in  the  former  one.  Mr.  Theodore  Talbot,  of 
Washington  City,  and  Mr.  Frederick  Dwight,  of 
Massachusetts,  accompanied  the  party.  Jacob  Dod- 
son,  a  free  young  colored  man  of  Washington  City, 
who  volunteered  for  the  service,  was  found  most  use- 
ful  and  worthy  of  confidence  in  all  the  perils  and 
trials  of  the  journey.  L.  Maxwell,  who  had  accom- 
panied the  former  expedition,  and  was  on  his  way 
to  Taos,  joined  the  party  at  Kansas.  Two  Delaware 

74 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  75 

Indians — a  fine-looking  old  man  arid  his  son — were 
engaged  as  hunters.  There  were  thirty-two  men  of 
the  party,  constituting  in  all  forty  persons  besides 
the  commander.  They  were  generally  armed  with 
Hall's  carbines,  and  took  with  them  a  brass  twelve- 
pound  howitzer.  The  hunters  and  Delawares  had 
rifles.  The  camp  equipage  and  provisions  were 
transported  in  twelve  carts,  drawn  each  by  two 
mules;  and  a  light,  covered  spring-wagon,  well- 
mounted,  carried  the  instruments. 

The  expedition  started  on  the  morning  of  the  2Qth 
of  May,  1843.  A  few  days  afterwards  Mr.  Gilpin, 
of  Missouri,  joined  it.  Its  route  was  along  the  line 
of  the  Kansas,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Republican  Fork, 
which  it  followed  some  distance,  thence  across  the 
country  to  St.  Vrain's  Fort,  on  the  south  fork  of  the 
Platte,  which  it  reached  on  the  4th  of  July.  On  the 
6th  it  left  St.  Vrain's,  and  continued  on  up  the  Platte. 
On  the  loth,  snow  fell  heavily  during  the  night  on 
the  mountains,  and  in  the  morning  Pike's  Peak  was 
covered  from  the  summit  as  far  down  as  it  was  visi- 
ble with  glittering  white,  giving  it  a  luminous  and 
grand  appearance.  On  the  I4th  the  party  reached 
the  point  where  the  Boiling  Spring  River  enters  the 
Arkansas.  Here  Fremont  was  delighted  to  meet  and 
again  secure  the  services  of  Kit  Carson.  Having 
discovered  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  obtain 
supplies  from  Taos,  he  determined  without  delay  to 
return  to  St.  Vrain's,  having  first  despatched  Carson 
to  procure,  if  possible,  a  reinforcement  of  mules  from 
Mr.  Charles  Bent,  whose  post  was  about  seventy- 
five  miles  lower  down  on  the  Arkansas,  and  rejoin 


76  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

him  at  St.  Vrain's.  On  the  i6th  the  party  resumed 
its  journey  up  the  Boiling  Spring  River,  so  called  in 
consequence  of  some  very  remarkable  springs,  which 
Mr.  Fremont  visited  the  next  day. 

"  July  20.  We  continued  our  march  up  the  stream 
along  a  green  sloping  bottom,  between  pine  hills  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  main  Black  Hills  on  the  other, 
towards  the  ridge  which  separates  the  waters  of  the 
Platte  from  those  of  the  Arkansas.  As  we  ap- 
proached the  dividing  ridge,  the  whole  valley  was 
radiant  with  flowers ;  blue,  yellow,  pink,  white,  scar- 
let, and  purple  vied  with  each  other  in  splendor. 
Esparcette  was  one  of  the  highly  characteristic 
plants,  and  a  bright-looking  flower  (gaillardia 
aristata)  was  very  frequent ;  but  the  most  abundant 
plant  along  our  road  to-day  was  geranium  macula- 
turn  ,  which  is,  the  characteristic  plant  on  this  portion 
of  the  dividing  grounds.  Crossing  to  the  waters  of 
the  Platte,  fields  of  blue  flax  added  to  the  magnifi- 
cence of  this  mountain  garden ;  this  was  occasionally 
four  feet  in  height,  which  was  a  luxuriance  of 
growth  that  I  rarely  saw  this  almost  universal  plant 
attain  throughout  the  journey." 

Mr.  Fitzpatrick  had  been  left  behind  a  month  be- 
fore, to  follow  on  with  twenty-five  men,  and  the 
heavier  baggage  of  the  expedition. 

"  Reaching  St.  Vrain's  Fort  on  the  morning  of 
the  23d,  we  found  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  and  his  party  in 
good  order  and  excellent  health,  and  my  true  and  re- 
liable friend,  Kit  Carson,  who  had  brought  with  him 
ten  good  mules  with  the  necessary  pack-saddles. 
Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  who  had  often  endured  every  ex- 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  TJ 

tremity  of  want  during  the  course  of  his  mountain 
life,  and  knew  well  the  value  of  provisions  in  this 
country,  had  watched  over  our  stock  with  jealous 
vigilance,  and  there  was  an  abundance  of  flour,  rice, 
sugar,  and  coffee  in  the  camp;  and  again  we  fared 
luxuriously.  Meat  was,  however,  very  scarce;  and 
two  very  small  pigs,  which  we  obtained  at  the  fort, 
did  not  go  far  among  forty  men.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick 
had  been  here  a  week,  during  which  time  his  men 
had  been  occupied  in  refitting  the  camp ;  and  the  re- 
pose had  been  very  beneficial  to  his  animals,  which 
were  now  in  tolerably  good  condition. 

"  I  had  been  able  to  obtain  no  certain  information 
in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  passes  in  this  por- 
tion of  the  Rocky  Mountain  range,  which  had  always 
been  represented  as  impracticable  for  carriages,  but 
the  exploration  of  which  was  incidentally  contem- 
plated by  my  instructions,  with  the  view -of  finding 
some  convenient  point  of  passage  for  the  road  of 
emigration,  which  would  enable  it  to  reach,  on  a 
more  direct  line,  the  usual  ford  of  the  Great  Colo- 
rado— a  place  considered  as  determined  by  the  na- 
ture of  the  country  beyond  that  river.  It  is  singular, 
that,  immediately  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  I 
could  find  no  one  sufficiently  acquainted  with  them 
to  guide  us  to  the  plains  at  their  western  base ;  but 
the  race  of  trappers  who  formerly  lived  in  their  re- 
cesses has  almost  entirely  disappeared — dwindled  to 
a  few  scattered  individuals — some  one  or  two  of 
whom  are  regularly  killed  in  the  course  of  each  year 
by  the  Indians." 

Having  determined  to  traverse  the  eastern  side  of 


?8  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  Medicine  Bow  Mountains  to  find,  if  possible,  a 
pass  through  them,  Mr.  Fremont  again  divided  his 
party,  sending  Fitzpatrick  with  a  large  portion  of  it 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Laramie,  and  thence  by  the  usual 
emigrant  route  to  Fort  Hall,  there  to  await  his 
arrival. 

"  Our  Delaware  Indians  having  determined  to  re- 
turn to  their  homes,  it  became  necessary  to  provide 
this  party  with  a  good  hunter ;  and  I  accordingly  en- 
gaged in  that  capacity  Alexander  Godey,  a  young 
man  about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  who  had  been 
in  this  country  six  or  seven  years,  all  of  which  time 
had  been  actively  employed  in  hunting  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  posts,  or  in  solitary  trading  expeditions 
among  the  Indians.  In  courage  and  professional 
skill  he  was  a  formidable  rival  to  Carson,  and  con- 
stantly afterwards  was  among  the  best  and  most 
efficient  of  the  party,  and  in  difficult  situations  was 
of  incalculable  value. 

"  For  my  own  party  I  selected  the  following  men, 
a  number  of  whom  old  associations  rendered  agree- 
able to  me : — 

"  Charles  Preuss,  Christopher  Carson,  Basil  La- 
jeunesse,  Francois  Badeau,  J.  B.  Bernier,  Louis 
Menard,  Raphael  Proue,  Jacob  Dodson,  Louis  Zin- 
del,  Henry  Lee,  J.  B.  Derosier,  Francois  Lajeunesse, 
and  Auguste  Vasquez." 

Going  through  what  is  called  the  Medicine  Butte 
Pass,  Fremont  followed  the  Platte  and  Sweetwater, 
and  crossed  the  dividing  ridge,  along  the  southern 
border  of  the  South  Pass,  which  is  about  twenty 
miles  in  width.  He  then  directed  his  course  towards 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  79 

Bear  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  on  the 
north.  Many  of  his  animals  died  during  this  part  of 
the  journey,  and  it  was  not  accomplished  without 
considerable  difficulty  and  hardship. 

On  the  2ist  of  August,  they  reached  the  fertile 
and  picturesque  valley  of  Bear  River,  the  principal 
tributary  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

"  We  were  now  entering  a  region  which,  for  us, 
possessed  a  strange  and  extraordinary  interest.  We 
were  upon  the  waters  of  the  famous  lake  which  forms 
a  salient  point  among  the  remarkable  geographical 
features  of  the  country,  and  around  which  the  vague 
and  superstitious  accounts  of  the  trappers  had 
thrown  a  delightful  obscurity,  which  we  anticipated 
pleasure  in  dispelling,  but  which,  in  the  meantime, 
left  a  crowded  field  for  the  exercise  of  our  imagina- 
tion. 

"  In  about  six  miles'  travel  from  our  encampment, 
we  reached  one  of  the  points  in  our  journey  to  which 
we  had  always  looked  forward  with  great  interest — 
irne  famous  Beer  Springs,  which,  on  account  of  the 
effervescing  gas  and  acid  taste,  had  received  their 
name  from  the  voyageurs  and  trappers  of  the  coun- 
try, who,  in  the  midst  of  their  rude  and  hard  liyes, 
are  fond  of  finding  some  fancied  resemblance  to  the 
luxuries  they  rarely  have  the  good  fortune  to  enjoy. 

"  Although  somewhat  disappointed  in  the  expecta- 
tions which  various  descriptions  had  led  me  to  form 
of  unusual  beauty  of  situation  and  scenery,  I  found 
it  altogether  a  place  of  very  great  interest;  and  a 
traveller  for  the  first  time  in  a  volcanic  region  re- 
mains in  a  constant  excitement,  and  at  every  step  is 


8O  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

arrested  by  something  remarkable  and  new.  There 
is  a  confusion  of  interesting  objects  gathered  to- 
gether in  a  small  space.  Around  the  place  of  en- 
campment the  Beer  Springs  were  numerous ;  but,  as 
far  as  we  could  ascertain,  were  entirely  confined  to 
that  locality  in  the  bottom.  In  the  bed  of  the  river, 
in  front,  for  a  space  of  several  hundred  yards,  they 
were  very  abundant;  the  effervescing  gas  rising  up 
and  agitating  the  water  in  countless  bubbling 
columns." 

As  they  approached  the  lake  they  passed  over  a 
country  of  bold  and  striking  scenery,  and  through 
several  "  gates,"  as  they  called  certain  narrow  val- 
leys. The  "  standing  rock  "  is  a  huge  column,  occu- 
pying the  centre  of  one  of  these  passes.  It  fell  from 
a  height  of  perhaps  3,000  feet,  and  happened  to  re- 
main in  its  present  upright  position. 

At  last,  on  the  6th  of  September,  the  object  for 
which  their  eyes  had  long  been  straining,  was 
brought  to  view. 

"  September  6.  This  time  we  reached  the  butte 
without  any  difficulty ;  and,  ascending  to  the  summit, 
immediately  at  our  feet  beheld  the  object  of  our 
anxious  search,  the  waters  of  the  Inland  Sea,  stretch- 
ing in  still  and  solitary  grandeur  far  beyond  the  limit 
of  our  vision.  It  was  one  of  the  great  points  of  the 
exploration ;  and  as  we  looked  eagerly  over  the  lake 
in  the  first  emotions  of  excited  pleasure,  I  am  doubt- 
ful if  the  followers  of  Balboa  felt  more  enthusiasm 
when,  from  the  heights  of  the  Andes,  they  saw  for 
the  first  time  the  great  Western  Ocean.  It  was  cer- 
tainly a  magnificent  object,  and  a  noble  terminus  to 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  8 1 

this  part  of  our  expedition ;  and  to  travellers  so  long 
shut  up  among  mountain  ranges,  a  sudden  view  over 
the  expanse  of  silent  waters  had  in  it  something  sub- 
lime. Several  large  islands  raised  their  high  rocky 
heads  out  of  the  waves ;  but  whether  or  not  they  were 
timbered  was  still  left  to  our  imagination,  as  the  dis- 
tance was  too  great  to  determine  if  the  dark  hues 
upon  them  were  woodland  or  naked  rock.  During 
the  day  the  clouds  had  been  gathering  black  over  the 
mountains  to  the  westward,  and  while  we  were  look- 
ing a  storm  burst  down  with  sudden  fury  upon  the 
lake,  and  entirely  hid  the  islands  from  our  view. 

"  On  the  edge  of  the  stream  a  favorable  spot  was 
selected  in  a  grove ;  and,  felling  the  timber,  we  made 
a  strong  coral,  or  horse-pen,  for  the  animals,  and  a 
little  fort  for  the  people  who  were  to  remain.  We 
were  now  probably  in  the  country  of  the  Utah  In- 
dians, though  none  reside  upon  the  lake.  The  India- 
rubber  boat  was  repaired  with  prepared  cloth  and 
gum,  and  filled  with  air,  in  readiness  for  the  next 
day. 

"  The  provisions  which  Carson  had  brought  with 
him  being  now  exhausted,  and  our  stock  reduced  to  a 
small  quantity  of  roots,  I  determined  to  retain  with 
me  only  a  sufficient  number  of  men  for  the  execution 
of  our  design ;  and  accordingly  seven  were  sent  back 
to  Fort  Hall,  under  the  guidance  of  Francois  Lajeu- 
nesse,  who,  having  been  for  many  years  a  trapper  in 
the  country,  was  an  experienced  mountaineer. 

"  We  formed  now  but  a  small  family.  With  Mr. 
Preuss  and  myself,  Carson,  Bernier,  and  Basil  La- 
jetmesse  had  been  selected  for  the  boat  expedition- — 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v.— 6 


82  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  first  ever  attempted  on  this  interior  sea;  and 
Badeau,  with  Derosier,  and  Jacob,  (the  colored 
man,)  were  to  be  left  in  charge  of  the  camp.  We 
were  favored  with  most  delightful  weather.  Around 
our  fire  to-night  were  many  speculations  on  what  to- 
morrow would  bring  forth;  and  in  our  busy  conjec- 
tures we  fancied  that  we  should  find  every  one  of  the 
large  islands  a  tangled  wilderness  of  trees  and  shrub- 
bery, teeming  with  game  of  every  description  that 
the  neighboring  region  afforded,  and  which  the  foot 
of  a  white  man  or  Indian  had  never  violated.  Fre- 
quently, during  the  day,  clouds  had  rested  on  the 
summits  of  their  lofty  mountains,  and  we  believed 
that  we  should  find  clear  streams  and  springs  of 
fresh  water ;  and  we  indulged  in  anticipations  of  the 
luxurious  repasts  with  which  we  were  to  indemnify 
ourselves  for  past  privations.  Neither,  in  our  dis- 
cussions, were  the  whirlpool  and  other  mysterious 
dangers  forgotten,  which  Indian  and  hunters'  stories 
attributed  to  this  unexplored  lake.  The  men  had 
discovered  that,  instead  of  being  strongly  sewed, 
(like  that  of  the  preceding  year,  which  had  so 
triumphantly  rode  the  canons  of  the  Upper  Great 
Platte,)  our  present  boat  was  only  pasted  together 
in  a  very  insecure  manner,  the  maker  having  been 
allowed  so  little  time  in  the  construction  that  he  was 
obliged  to  crowd  the  labor  of  two  months  into  sev- 
eral days.  The  insecurity  of  the  boat  was  sensibly 
felt  by  us;  and,  mingled  with  the  enthusiasm  and 
excitement  that  we  all  felt  at  the  prospect  of  an  un- 
dertaking which  had  never  before  been  accomplished, 
was  a  certain  impression  of.  danger,  sufficient  to  give 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  83 

a  serious  character  to  our  conversation.  The  mo- 
mentary view  which  had  been  had  of  the  lake  the  day 
before,  its  great  extent  and  rugged  islands,  dimly 
seen  amidst  the  dark  waters  in  the  obscurity  of  the 
sudden  storm,  were  well  calculated  to  heighten  the 
idea  of  undefined  danger  with  which  the  lake  was 
generally  associated. 

"  September  8.  A  calm,  clear  day,  with  a  sunrise 
temperature  of  41°.  In  view  of  our  present  enter- 
prise, a  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  boat  had  been 
made  to  consist  of  three  air-tight  bags,  about  three 
feet  long,  and  capable  each  of  containing  five  gallons. 
These  had  been  filled  with  water  the  night  before, 
and  were  now  placed  in  the  boat,  with  our  blankets 
and  instruments,  consisting  of  a  sextant,  telescope, 
spy-glass,  thermometer,  and  barometer. 

"  September  9.  The  day  was  clear  and  calm ;  the 
thermometer  at  sunrise  at  49°.  As  is  usual  with  the 
trappers  on  the  eve  of  any  enterprise,  our  people  had 
made  dreams,  and  theirs  happened  to  be  a  bad  one — 
one  which  always  preceded  evil — and  consequently 
they  looked  very  gloomy  this  morning;  but  we  hur- 
ried through  our  breakfast,  in  order  to  make  an  early 
start,  and  have  all  the  day  before  us  for  our  adven- 
ture. The  channel  in  a  short  distance  became  so 
shallow  that  our  navigation  was  at  an  end,  being 
merely  a  sheet  of  soft  mud,  with  a  few  inches  of 
water,  and  sometimes  none  at  all,  forming  the  low- 
water  shore  of  the  lake.  All  this  place  was  abso- 
lutely covered  with  flocks  of  screaming  plover.  We 
took  off  our  clothes,  and,  getting  overboard,  com- 
menced dragging  the  boat— making,  by  this  opera- 


84  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

tion,  a  very  curious  trail,  and  a  very  disagreeable 
smell  in  stirring  up  the  mud  as  we  sank  above  the 
knee  at  every  step.  The  water  here  was  still  fresh, 
with  only  an  insipid  and  disagreeable  taste,  probably 
derived  from  the  bed  of  fetid  mud.  After  proceeding 
in  this  way  about  a  mile,  we  came  to  a  small  black 
ridge  on  the  bottom,  beyond  which  the  water  became 
suddenly  salt,  beginning  gradually  to  deepen,  and 
the  bottom  was  sandy  and  firm.  It  was  a  remarkable 
division,  separating  the  fresh  water  of  the  rivers 
from  the  briny  water  of  the  lake,  which  was  entirely 
saturated  with  common  salt.  Pushing  our  little  ves- 
sel across  the  narrow  boundary,  we  sprang  on  board, 
and  at  length  were  afloat  on  the  waters  of  the  un- 
known sea. 

"  We  did  not  steer  for  the  mountainous  islands, 
but  directed  our  course  towards  a  lower  one,  which 
it  had  been  decided  we  should  first  visit,  the  summit 
of  which  was  formed  like  the  crater  at  the  upper  end 
of  Bear  River  Valley.  So  long  as  we  could  touch 
the  bottom  with  our  paddles,  we  were  very  gay ;  but 
gradually,  as  the  water  deepened,  we  became  more 
still  in  our  frail  bateau  of  gum  cloth  distended  with 
air,  and  with  pasted  seams.  Although  the  day  was 
very  calm,  there  was  a  considerable  swell  on  the  lake ; 
and  there  were  white  patches  of  foam  on  the  surface, 
which  were  slowly  moving  to  the  southward,  indi- 
cating the  set  of  a  current  in  that  direction,  and  re- 
calling the  recollection  of  the  whirlpool  stories.  The 
water  continued  to  deepen  as  we  advanced ;  the  lake 
becoming  almost  transparently  clear,  of  an  extremely 
beautiful  bright-green  color;  and  the  spray,  which 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  85 

was  thrown  into  the  boat  and  over  .our  clothes,  was 
directly  converted  into  a  crust  of  common  salt,  which 
covered  also  our  hands  and  arms.  '  Captain,'  said 
Carson,  who  for  some  time  had  been  looking  suspi- 
ciously at  some  whitening  appearances  outside  the 
nearest  islands, '  what  are  those  yonder  ? — won't  you 
just  take  a  look  with  the  glass? '  We  ceased  pad- 
dling for  a  moment,  and  found  them  to  be  the  caps 
of  the  waves  that  were  beginning  to  break  under  the 
force  of  a  strong  breeze  that  was  coming  up  the  lake. 
The  form  of  the  boat  seemed  to  be  an  admirable  one, 
and  it  rode  on  the  waves  like  a  water  bird ;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  it  was  extremely  slow  in  its  progress. 
When  we  were  a  little  more  than  half-way  across 
the  reach,  two  of  the  divisions  between  the  cylinders 
gave  way,  and  it  required  the  constant  use  of  the 
bellows  to  keep  in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  air.  For  a 
long  time  we  scarcely  seemed  to  approach  our  island, 
but  gradually  we  worked  across  the  rougher  sea  of 
the  open  channel,  into  the  smoother  water  under  the 
lee  of  the  island ;  and  began  to  discover  that  what  we 
took  for  a  long  row  of  pelicans,  ranged  on  the  beach, 
were  only  low  cliffs  whitened  with  salt  by  the  spray 
of  the  waves ;  and  about  noon  we  reached  the  shore, 
the  transparency  of  the  water  enabling  us  to  see  the 
bottom  at  a  considerable  depth. 

'  The  cliffs  and  masses  of  rock  along  the  shore 
were  whitened  by  an  incrustation  of  salt  where  the 
waves  dashed  up  against  them ;  and  the  evaporating 
water,  which  had  been  left  in  holes  and  hollows  on 
the  surface  of  the  rpcks,  was  covered  with  a  crust  of 
salt  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 


86  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

"  Carrying  with  us  the  barometer  and  other  instru- 
ments, in  the  afternoon  we  ascended  to  the  highest 
point  of  the  island — a  bare  rocky  peak,  800  feet 
above  the  lake.  Standing  on  the  summit,  we  enjoyed 
an  extended  view  of  the  lake,  enclosed  in  a  basin  of 
rugged  mountains,  which  sometimes  left  marshy  flats 
and  extensive  bottoms  between  them  and  the  shore, 
and  in  other  places  came  directly  down  into  the  water 
with  bold  and  precipitous  bluffs. 

"As  we  looked  over  the  vast  expanse  of  water 
spread  out  beneath  us,  and  strained  our  eyes  along 
the  silent  shores  over  which  hung  so  much  doubt  and 
uncertainty,  and  which  were  so  full  of  interest  to  us, 
I  could  hardly  repress  the  almost  irresistible  desire  to 
continue  our  exploration;  but  the  lengthening  snow 
on  the  mountains  was  a  plain  indication  of  the  ad- 
vancing season,  and  our  frail  linen  boat  appeared  so 
insecure  that  I  was  unwilling  to  trust  our  lives  to  the 
uncertainties  of  the  lake.  I  therefore  unwillingly  re- 
solved to  terminate  our  survey  here,  and  remain 
satisfied  for  the  present  with  what  we  had  been  able 
to  add  to  the  unknown  geography  of  the  region.  We 
felt  pleasure  also  in  remembering  that  we  were  the 
first  who,  in  the  traditionary  annals  of  the  country, 
had  visited  the  islands,  and  broken,  with  the  cheer- 
ful sound  of  human  voices,  the  long  solitude  of  the 
place. 

"  At  sunset,  the  temperature  was  70°.  We  had 
arrived  just  in  time  to  obtain  a  meridian  altitude  of 
the  sun,  and  other  observations  were  obtained  this 
evening,  which  place  our  camp  in  latitude  41°  10' 
42",  and  longitude  112°  21'  05"  from  Greenwich. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  87 

From  a  discussion  of  the  barometrical  observations 
made  during  our  stay  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  we 
have  adopted  4,200  feet  for  its  elevation  above  the 
gulf  of  Mexico.  In  the  first  disappointment  we  felt 
from  the  dissipation  of  our  dream  of  the  fertile 
islands,  I  called  this  Disappointment  Island. 

"  Out  of  the  driftwood,  we  made  ourselves  pleas- 
ant little  lodges,  open  to  the  water,  and,  after  having 
kindled  large  fires  to  excite  the  wonder  of  any  strag- 
gling savage  on  the  lake  shores,  lay  down,  for  the 
first  time  in  a  long  journey,  in  perfect  security;  no 
one  thinking  about  his  arms.  The  evening  was  ex- 
tremely bright  and  pleasant ;  but  the  wind  rose  dur- 
ing the  night,  and  the  waves  began  to  break  heavily 
on  the  shore,  making  our  island  tremble.  I  had  not 
expected  in  our  inland  journey  to  hear  the  roar  of  an 
ocean  surf ;  and  the  strangeness  of  our  situation,  and 
the  excitement  we  felt  in  the  associated  interests  of 
the  place,  made  this  one  of  the  most  interesting 
nights  I  remember  during  our  long  expedition. 

"  In  the  morning,  the  surf  was  breaking  heavily 
on  the  shore,  and  we  were  up  early.  The  lake  was 
dark  and  agitated,  and  we  hurried  through  our 
scanty  breakfast,  and  embarked — having  first  filled 
one  of  the  buckets  with  water  from  the  lake,  of  which 
it  was  intended  to  make  salt.  The  sun  had  risen  by 
the  time  we  were  ready  to  start ;  and  it  was  blowing 
a  strong  gale  of  wind,  almost  directly  off  the  shore, 
and  raising  a  considerable  sea,  in  which  our  boat 
strained  very  much.  It  roughened  as  we  got  away 
from  the  island,  and  it  required  all  the  efforts  of  the 
men  to  make  any  head  against  the  wind  and  sea ;  the 


88  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

gale  rising  with  the  sun;  and  there  was  danger  of 
being  blown  into  one  of  the  open  reaches  beyond  the 
island.  At  the  distance  of  half  a  mile  from  the 
beach,  the  depth  of  water  was  sixteen  feet,  with  a 
clay  bottom ;  but,  as  the  working  of  the  boat  was  very 
severe  labor,  and  during  the  operation  of  rounding 
it  was  necessary  to  cease  paddling,  during  which  the 
boat  lost  considerable  way,  I  was  unwilling  to  dis- 
courage the  men,  and  reluctantly  gave  up  my  inten- 
tion of  ascertaining  the  depth,  and  the  character  of 
the  bed.  There  was  a  general  shout  in  the  boat  when 
we  found  ourselves  in  one  fathom,  and  we  soon  after 
landed." 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  I2th  they  started  from 
their  Salt  Lake  encampment,  for  the  Columbia  River, 
and  reached  Fort  Hall  on  the  i8th,  at  sunset.  Here 
the  party  was  again  united,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  push  on  to  the  Columbia. 

"  The  early  approach  of  winter,  and  the  difficulty 
of  supporting  a  large  party,  determined  me  to  send 
back  a  number  of  the  men  who  had  become  satisfied 
that  they  were  not  fitted  for  the  laborious  service  and 
frequent  privation  to  which  they  were  necessarily 
exposed,  and  which  there  was  reason  to  believe 
would  become  more  severe  in  the  further  extension 
of  the  voyage.  I  accordingly  called  them  together, 
and,  "informing  them  of  my  intention  to  continue  our 
journey  during  the  ensuing  winter,  in  the  course  of 
which  they  would  probably  be  exposed  to  consider- 
able hardship,  succeeded  in  prevailing  upon  a  number 
of  them  to  return  voluntarily.  Among  these,  I  re- 
gretted very  much  to  lose  Basil  Lajeunesse,  one  of 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  89 

the  best  men  in  my  party,  who  was  obliged,  by  the 
condition  of  his  family,  to  be  at  home  in  the  coming 
winter." 

Fremont,  with  the  residue  of  his  party,  started  on 
the  23d  of  September,  and  pursued,  for  the  most 
part,  the  course  of  the  Snake  River,  or  Lewis's  Fork, 
and  came  in  sight  of  the  Columbia  on  the  25th  of 
October,  at  the  junction  of  the  Wahlahwahlah, 
where  it  was  twelve  hundred  yards  wide.  On  the 
4th  of  November  they  reached  the  Dalles  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, so  called  from  the  trough-like  aspect  of  the 
narrow  chasm,  at  one  place  only  fifty-eight  yards 
wide,  through  which  the  great  river  passes  between 
perpendicular  walls  of  basaltic  rock  of  an  average 
height  of  twenty-five  feet.  From  the  Dalles  to  Fort 
Vancouver  the  route  was  pursued  in  a  canoe.  Fre- 
mont, Preuss,  Bernier,  and  Dodson,  with  three  In- 
dians to  whom  the  canoe  belonged,  constituted  the 
party.  The  remainder  were  left  in  charge  of  Carson. 

After  collecting  at  the  fort  the  necessary  pro- 
visions and  supplies  to  refit  and  support  his  party 
during  the  winter  journey  on  which  they  were  about 
to  enter, — in  which  he  was  aided  by  the  cordial  co- 
operation of  Dr.  McLaughlin,  the  executive  officer  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company, — he  started  on  his  return 
to  the  Dalles  in  the  afternoon  of  November  10,  his 
flotilla  consisting  of  a  Mackinaw  barge  and  three 
canoes. 

"  November  13.  We  had  a  day  of  disagreeable 
and  cold  rain,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  began  to  ap- 
proach the  rapids  of  the  cascades. 

"  The  current  was  now  very  swift,  and  we  were 


9O  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

obliged  to  cordelle  the  boat  along  the  left  shore, 
where  the  bank  was  covered  with  large  masses  of 
rocks.  Night  overtook  us  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
island,  a  short  distance  below  the  cascades,  and  we 
halted  on  the  open  point.  In  the  meantime,  the 
lighter  canoes,  paddled  altogether  by  Indians,  had 
passed  ahead,  and  were  out  of  sight.  With  them 
was  the  lodge,  which  was  the  only  shelter  we  had, 
with  most  of  the  bedding  and  provisions.  We 
shouted,  and  fired  guns,  but  all  to  no  purpose,  as  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  hear  above  the  roar  of 
the  river ;  and  we  remained  all  night  without  shelter, 
the  rain  pouring  down  all  the  time.  The  old  voya- 
geurs  did  not  appear  to  mind  it  much,  but  covered 
themselves  up  as  well  as  they  could,  and  lay  down 
on  the  sand-beach,  where  they  remained  quiet  until 
morning.  The  rest  of  us  spent  a  rather  miserable 
night;  and,  to  add  to  our  discomfort,  the  incessant 
rain  extinguished  our  fires ;  and  we  were  glad  when 
at  last  daylight  appeared,  and  we  again  embarked. 

"  Crossing  to  the  right  bank,  we  cordelled  the  boat 
along  the  shore,  there  being  no  longer  any  use  for  the 
paddles,  and  put  into  a  little  bay  below  the  upper 
rapids.  Here  we  found  the  lodge  pitched,  and  about 
twenty  Indians  sitting  around  a  blazing  fire  within, 
making  a  luxurious  breakfast  with  salmon,  bread, 
butter,  sugar,  coffee,  and  other  provisions." 

In  the  afternoon  of  November  18,  they  reached 
the  Dalles.  The  camp  was  immediately  busy  with 
the  last  preparations  for  a  journey  through  the  un- 
explored regions  between  the  Columbia  River  and 
California,  and  embracing  the  central  basin  of  the 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  9 1 

continent  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Sierra  Nevada.  It  was  not  originally  designed  to 
cross  the  latter,  but  to  turn  homewards  over  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  at  some  pass  near  the  head  waters 
of  the  Arkansas. 

"  This  was  our  projected  line  of  return — a  great 
part  of  it  absolutely  new  to  geographical,  botanical, 
and  geological  science — and  the  subject  of  reports  in 
relation  to  lakes,  rivers,  deserts,  and  savages  hardly 
above  the  condition  of  mere  wild  animals,  which  in- 
flamed desire  to  know  what  this  terra  incognita 
really  contained.  It  was  a  serious  enterprise,  at  the 
commencement  of  winter,  to  undertake  the  traverse 
of  such  a  region,  and  with  a  party  consisting  only  of 
twenty-five  persons,  and  they  of  many  nations — 
American,  French,  German,  Canadian,  Indian,  and 
colored — and  most  of  them  young,  several  being  un- 
der twenty-one  years  of  age.  All  knew  that  a 
strange  country  was  to  be  explored,  and  dangers 
and  hardships  to  be  encountered;  but  no  one 
blenched  at  the  prospect.  On  the  contrary,  courage 
and  confidence  animated  the  whole  party.  Cheer- 
fulness, readiness,  subordination,  prompt  obedience, 
characterized  all ;  nor  did  any  extremity  of  peril  and 
privation,  to  which  we  were  afterwards  exposed, 
ever  belie,  or  derogate  from,  the  fine  spirit  of  this 
brave  and  generous  commencement.  The  course  of 
the  narrative  will  show  at  what  point,  and  for  what 
reasons,  we  were  prevented  from  the  complete  execu- 
tion of  this  plan,  after  having  made  considerable 
progress  upon  it,  and  how  we  were  forced  by  desert 
plains,  and  mountain  ranges,  and  deep  snows,  far  to 


92  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  south  and  near  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  along 
the  western  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada;  where,  in- 
deed, a  new  and  ample  field  of  exploration  opened 
itself  before  us.  For  the  present,  we  must  follow  the 
narrative,  which  will  first  lead  us  south  along  the 
valley  of  Fall  River,  and  the  eastern  base  of  the  Cas- 
cade range,  to  the  Tlamath  lake,  from  which,  or  its 
margin,  three  rivers  go  in  three  directions — one  west, 
to  the  ocean;  another  north,  to  the  Columbia;  the 
third  south,  to  California. 

"  For  the  support  of  the  party,  I  had  provided  at 
Vancouver  a  supply  of  provisions  for  not  less  than 
three  months,  consisting  principally  of  flour,  peas, 
and  tallow — the  latter  being  used  in  cooking;  and, 
in  addition  to  this,  I  had  purchased  at  the  mission 
some  California  cattle,  which  were  to  be  driven  on 
the  hoof.  We  had  one  hundred  and  four  mules  and 
horses — part  of  the  latter  procured  from  the  Indians 
about  the  mission ;  and  for  the  sustenance  of  which, 
our  reliance  was  upon  the  grass  which  we  should 
find,  and  the  soft  porous  wood,  which  was  to  be  its 
substitute  when  there  was  none. 

"  Mr.  Perkins  succeeded  in  obtaining  as  guide  to 
the  Tlamath  lake  two  Indians,  one  of  whom  had 
been  there,  and  bore  the  marks  of  several  wounds  he 
had  received  from  some  of  the  Indians  in  the  neigh- 
borhood; and  the  other  went  along  for  company. 
In  order  to  enable  us  to  obtain  horses,  he  despatched 
messengers  to  the  various  Indian  villages  in  the 
neighborhood,  informing  them  that  we  were  desirous 
to  purchase,  and  appointing  a  day  for  them  to  bring 
them  in. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  93 

"  We  made,  in  the  meantime,  several  excursions 
in  the  vicinity.  Mr.  Perkins  walked  with  Mr.  Preuss 
and  myself  to  the  heights,  about  nine  miles  distant 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  whence,  in  fine 
weather,  an  extensive  view  may  be  had  over  the 
mountains,  including  .seven  great  peaks  of  the  Cas- 
cade range;  but  clouds,  on  this  occasion,  destroyed 
the  anticipated  pleasure,  and  we  obtained  bearings 
only  to  three  that  were  visible — Mount  Regnier,  St. 
Helens,  and  Mount  Hood.  On  the  heights,  about 
one  mile  south  of  the  mission,  a  very  fine  view  may 
be  had  of  Mount  Hood  and  St.  Helens.  In  order  to 
determine  their  positions  with  as  much  accuracy  as 
possible,  the  angular  distances  of  the  peaks  were 
measured  with  the  sextant,  at  different  fixed  points 
from  which  they  could  be  seen. 

"  November  25.  We  were  all  up  early,  in  the  ex- 
citement of  turning  towards  home.  The  stars  were 
brilliant,  and  the  morning  cold,  the  thermometer  at 
daylight  26°. 

Our  preparations  had  been  finally  completed,  and 
to-day  we  commenced  our  journey.  The  little 
wagon  which  had  hitherto  carried  the  instruments, 
I  judged  it  necessary  to  abandon;  and  it  was  accord- 
ingly presented  to  the  mission.  In  all  our  long  trav- 
elling, it  had  never  been  overturned  or  injured  by 
any  accident  of  the  road ;  and  the  only  things  broken 
were  the  glass  lamps,  and  one  of  the  front  panels, 
which  had  been  kicked  out  by  an  unruly  Indian  horse. 
The  howitzer  was  the  only  wheeled  carriage  now 
remaining.-  We  started  about  noon,  when  the 
weather  had  become  disagreeably  cold,  with  flurries 


94  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

of  snow.  Our  friend  Mr.  Perkins,  whose  kindness 
had  been  active  and  efficient  during  our  stay,  accom- 
panied us  several  miles  on  our  road ;  when  he  bade  us 
farewell,  and  consigned  us  to  the  care  of  our  guides. 

"  November  27.  A  fine  view  of  Mount  Hood  this 
morning;  a  rose-colored  mass  of  snow,  bearing 
S.  85°  W.  by  compass.  The  sky  is  clear,  and  the  air 
cold ;  the  thermometer  2°.  5  below  zero ;  the  trees  and 
bushes  glittering  white,  and  the  rapid  stream  filled 
with  floating  ice." 

No  one  can  have  an  adequate  idea  of  the  suffer- 
ings endured,  the  obstacles  encountered,  the  perilous 
adventures,  and  fearful  experiences,  in  this  journey, 
without  reading  the  whole  of  Fremont's  Report,  re- 
ferring from  point  to  point  to  the  geography  of  the 
country,  as  exhibited  on  the  map,  drawn  from  his 
surveys,  by  his  associate  Charles  Preuss,  in  1848, 
under  an  order  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
Of  course,  in  such  a  work  as  this,  only  glimpses  can 
be  given  of  what  the  heroic  party  went  through ;  and 
that  can  best  be  done  in  extracts  from  the  Report  of 
its  commander. 

"  December  14.  Our  road  was  over  a  broad 
mountain,  and  we  rode  seven  hours  in  a  thick  snow- 
storm, always  through  pine  forests,  when  we  came 
down  upon  the  head  waters  of  another  stream,  on 
which  there  was  grass.  The  snow  lay  deep  on  the 
ground,  and  only  the  high  swamp  grass  appeared 
above.  The  Indians  were  thinly  clad,  and  I  had  re- 
marked during  the  day  that  they  suffered  from  the 
cold.  This  evening  they  told  me  that  the  snow  was 
getting  too  deep  on  the  mountain,  and  I  could  not 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT        95 

induce  them  to  go  any  further.  The  stream  we  had 
struck  issued  from  the  .mountain  in  an  easterly  direc- 
tion, turning  to  the  southward  a  short  distance  be- 
low; and,  drawing  its  course  upon  the  ground,  they 
made  us  comprehend  that  it  pursued  its  way  for  a 
long  distance  in  that  direction,  uniting  with  many 
other  streams,  and  gradually  becoming  a  great  river. 
Without  the  subsequent  information  which  con- 
firmed the  opinion,  we  became  immediately  satisfied 
that  this  water  formed  the  principal  stream  of  the 
Sacramento  River ;  and,  consequently,  that  this  main 
affluent  of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  had  its  source 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  and  opposite 
a  tributary  to  the  Columbia,  and  near  the  head  of  the 
Tlamath  River,  which  goes  to  the  ocean  north  of 
42°,  and  within  the  United  States. 

"December  15.  A  present  consisting  of  useful 
goods  afforded  much  satisfaction  to  our  guides ;  and, 
showing  them  the  national  flag,  I  explained  that  it 
was  a  symbol  of  our  nation;  and  they  engaged  al- 
ways to  receive  it  in  a  friendly  manner.  The  chief 
pointed  out  a  course,  by  following  which  we  would 
arrive  at  the  big  water,  where  no  more  snow  was  to 
be  found.  Crossing  a  hard  frozen  swamp  on  the 
further  side  of  the  Rond,  we  entered  again  the  pine 
forest,  in  which  very  deep  snow  made  our  travelling 
slow  and  laborious. 

"  December  16.  We  travelled  this  morning 
through  snow  about  three  feet  deep,  which,  being 
crusted,  very  much  cut  the  feet  of  our  animals.  The 
mountain  still  gradually  rose;  we  crossed  several 
spring  heads  covered  with  quaking  asp,  otherwise 


96  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

it  was  all  pine  forest.  The  air  was  dark  with  falling 
snow,  which  everywhere  weighed  down  the  trees. 
The  depths  of  the  forest  were  profoundly  still;  and 
below,  we  scarce  felt  a  breath  of  the  wind  which 
whirled  the  snow  through  their  branches.  I  found 
that  it  required  some  exertion  of  constancy  to  adhere 
steadily  to  one  course  through  the  woods,  when  we 
were  uncertain  how  far  the  forest  extended,  or  what 
lay  beyond ;  and,  on  account  of  our  animals,  it  would 
be  bad  to  spend  another  night  on  the  mountain.  To- 
wards noon  the  forest  looked  clear  ahead,  appearing 
suddenly  to  terminate;  and  beyond  a  certain  point 
we  could  see  no  trees.  Riding  rapidly  ahead  to  this 
spot,  we  found  ourselves  on  the  verge  of  a  vertical 
and  rocky  wall  of  the  mountain.  At  our  feet — more 
than  a  thousand  feet  below — we  looked  into  a  green 
prairie  country,  in  which  a  beautiful  lake,  some 
twenty  miles  in  length,  was  spread  along  the  foot  of 
the  mountains,  its  shores  bordering  with  green  grass. 
Just  then  the  sun  broke  out  among  the  clouds,  and 
illuminated  the  country  below,  while  around  us  the 
storm  raged  fiercely.  Not  a  particle  of  ice  was  to  be 
seen  on  the  lake,  or  snow  on  its  borders,  and  all  was 
like  summer  or  Spring.  The  glow  of  the  sun  in  the 
valley  below  brightened  up  our  hearts  with  sudden 
pleasure;  and  we  made  the  woods  ring  with  joyful 
shouts  to  those  behind ;  and  gradually,  as  each  came 
up,  he  stopped  to  enjoy  the  unexpected  scene.  Shiv- 
ering on  snow  three  feet  deep,  and  stiffening  in  a  cold 
north  wind,  we  exclaimed  at  once  that  the  names  of 
Summer  Lake  and  Winter  Ridge  should  be  applied 
to  these  two  proximate  places  of  such  sudden  and 
violent  contrast. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  97 

"  We  were  now  immediately  on  the  verge  of  the 
forest  land,  in  which  we  had  been  travelling  so  many 
days ;  and  looking  forward  to  the  east,  scarce  a  tree 
was  to  be  seen.  Viewed  from  our  elevation,  the  face 
of  the  country  exhibited  only  rocks  and  grass,  and 
presented  a  region  in  which  the  artemisia  became  the 
principal  wood,  furnishing  to  its  scattered  inhab- 
itants fuel  for  their  fires,  building  material  for  their 
huts,  and  shelter  for  the  small  game  which  ministers 
to  their  hunger  and  nakedness.  Broadly  marked 
by  the  boundary  of  the  mountain  wall,  and  imme- 
diately below  us,  were  the  first  waters  of  that  Great 
Interior  Basin  which  has  the  Wahsatch  and  Bear 
River  Mountains  for  its  eastern,  and  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada for  its  western  rim ;  and  the  edge  of  which  we 
had  entered  upwards  of  three  months  before  at  the 
Great  Salt  Lake. 

"  January  10.  We  continued  our  reconnoissance 
ahead,  pursuing  a  south  direction  in  the  basin  along 
the  ridge;  the  camp  following  slowly  after.  On  a 
large  trail  there  is  never  any  doubt  of  finding  suita- 
ble places  for  encampments.  We  reached  the  end  of 
the  basin,  where  we  found,  in  a  hollow  of  the  moun- 
tain which  enclosed  it,  an  abundance  of  good  bunch 
grass.  Leaving  a  signal  for  the  party  to  encamp,  we 
continued  our  way  up  the  hollow,  intending  to  see 
what  lay  beyond  the  mountain.  The  hollow  was 
several  miles  long,  forming  a  good  pass,  the  snow 
deepening  to  about  a  foot  as  we  neared  the  summit. 
Beyond,  a  defile  between  the  mountains  descended 
rapidly  about  two  thousand  feet;  and,  filling  up  all 
the  lower  space,  was  a  sheet  of  green  water,  some 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V. — 7 


98  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

twenty  miles  broad.  It  broke  upon  our  eyes  like  the 
ocean.  The  neighboring  peaks  rose  high  above  us, 
and  we  ascended  one  of  them  to  obtain  a  better  view. 
The  waves  were  curling  in  the  breeze,  and  their  dark- 
green  color  showed  it  to  be  a  body  of  deep  water. 
For  a  long  time  we  sat  enjoying  the  view,  for  we  had 
become  fatigued  with  mountains,  and  the  free  ex- 
panse of  moving  waves  was  very  grateful.  It  was 
set  in  the  midst  of  the  mountains,  which,  from  our 
position,  seemed  to  enclose  it  almost  entirely.  At 
the  western  end  it  communicated  with  the  line  of 
basins  we  had  left  a  few  days  since ;  and  on  the  oppo- 
site side  it  swept  a  ridge  of  snowy  mountains,  the 
foot  of  the  Great  Sierra.  Its  position  at  first  inclined 
us  to  believe  it  Mary's  Lake,  but  the  rugged  moun- 
tains were  so  entirely  discordant  with  descriptions 
of  its  low  rushy  shores  and  open  country,  that  we 
concluded  it  some  unknown  body  of  water ;  which  it 
afterwards  proved  to  be. 

"  January  29.  The  other  division  of  the  party  did 
not  come  in  to-night,  but  encamped  in  the  upper 
meadow,  and  arrived  the  next  morning.  They  had 
not  succeeded  in  getting  the  howitzer  beyond  the 
place  mentioned,  and  where  it  had  been  left  by  Mr. 
Preuss  in  obedience  to  my  orders;  and,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  snow-banks  and  snow-fields  still  ahead, 
foreseeing  the  inevitable  detention  to  which  it  would 
subject  us,  I  reluctantly  determined  to  leave  it  there 
for  the  time.  It  was  of  the  kind  invented  by  the 
French  for  the  mountain  part  of  their  war  in  Algiers ; 
and  the  distance  it  had  come  with  us,  proved  how 
well  it  was  adapted  to  its  purpose.  We  left  it,  to  the 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  99 

great  sorrow  of  the  whole  party,  who  were  grieved 
to  part  with  a  companion  which  had  made  the  whole 
distance  from  St.  Louis,  and  commanded  respect  for 
us  on  some  critical  occasions,  and  which  might  be 
needed  for  the  same  purpose  again. 

"  February  2.  It  had  ceased  snowing,  and  this 
morning  the  lower  air  was  clear  and  frosty ;  and  six 
or  seven  thousand  feet  above,  the  peaks  of  the  Sierra 
now  and  then  appeared  among  the  rolling  clouds, 
which  were  rapidly  dispersing  before  the  sun.  Our 
Indian  shook  his  head  as  he  pointed  to  the  icy  pinna- 
cles shooting  high  up  into  the  sky,  and  seeming  al- 
most immediately  above  us.  Crossing  the  river  on 
the  ice,  and  leaving  it  immediately,  we  commenced 
the  ascent  of  the  mountain  along  the  valley  of  a 
tributary  stream.  The  people  were  unusually  silent ; 
for  every  man  knew  that  our  enterprise  was  hazard- 
ous, and  the  issue  doubtful. 

"  The  snow  deepened  rapidly,  and  it  soon  became 
necessary  to  break  a  road.  For  this  service,  a  party 
of  ten  was  formed,  mounted  on  the  strongest  horses ; 
each  man  in  succession  opening  the  road  on  foot,  or 
on  horseback,  until  himself  and  his  horse  became 
fatigued,  when  he  stepped  aside ;  and,  the  remaining 
number  passing  ahead,  he  took  his  station  in  the  rear. 
Leaving  this  stream,  and  pursuing  a  very  direct 
course,  we  passed  over  an  intervening  ridge  to  the 
river  we  had  left. 

"  Towards  a  pass  which  the  guide  indicated  here, 
we  attempted  in  the  afternoon  to  force  a  road ;  but 
after  a  laborious  plunging  through  two  or  three  hun- 
dred yards,  our  best  horses  gave  out,  entirely  refus- 


100  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

ing  to  make  any  further  effort ;  and,  for  the  time,  we 
were  brought  to  a  stand.  The  guide  informed  us 
that  we  were  entering  the  deep  snow,  and  here  began 
the  difficulties  of  the  mountain;  and  to  him,  and 
almost  to  all,  our  enterprise  seemed  hopeless.  I  re- 
turned a  short  distance  back,  to  the  break  in  the 
hollow,  where  I  met  Mr.  Fitzpatrick. 

"  The  camp  had  been  all  the  day  occupied  in  en- 
deavoring to  ascend  the  hill,  but  only  the  best  horses 
had  succeeded.  The  animals  generally  not  having 
sufficient  strength  to  bring  themselves  up  without  the 
packs ;  and  all  the  line  of  road  between  this  and  the 
springs  was  strew.ed  with  camp  stores  and  equipage, 
and  horses  floundering  in  snow.  I  therefore  imme- 
diately encamped  on  the  ground  with  my  own  mess, 
which  was  in  advance,  and  directed  Mr.  Fitzpatrick 
to  encamp  at  the  springs,  and  send  all  the  animals  in 
charge  of  Tabeau,  with  a  strong  guard,  back  to  the 
place  where  they  had  been  pastured  the  night  before. 
Here  was  a  small  spot  of  level  ground,  protected  on 
one  side  by  the  mountain  and  on  the  other  sheltered 
by  a  little  ridge  of  rock.  It  was  an  open  grove  of 
pines,  which  assimilated  in  size  to  the  grandeur  of 
the  mountain,  being  frequently  six  feet  in  diameter. 

"  To-night  we  had  no  shelter,  but  we  made  a  large 
fire  around  the  trunk  of  one  of  the  huge  pines ;  and 
covering  the  snow  with  small  boughs,  on  which  we 
spread  our  blankets,  soon  made  ourselves  comfort- 
able. The  night  was  very  bright  and  clear,  though 
the  thermometer  was  only  at  10°.  A  strong  wind, 
which  sprang  up  at  sundown,  made  it  intensely  cold ; 
and  this  was  one  of  the  bitterest  nights  during  the 
journey. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  IOI 

"  Two  Indians  joined  our  party  here ;  and  one  of 
them,  an  old  man,  immediately  began  to  harangue 
us,  saying  that  ourselves  and  animals  would  perish 
in  the  snow,  and  that  if  we  would  go  back,  he  would 
show  us  another  and  a  better  way  across  the  moun- 
tain. He  spoke  in  a  very  loud  voice,  and  there  was  a 
singular  repetition  of  phrases  and  arrangement  of 
words,  which  rendered  his  speech  striking  and  not 
unmusical. 

"  We  had  now  begun  to  understand  some  words, 
and,  with  the  aid  of  signs,  easily  comprehended  the 
old  man's  simple  ideas.  *  Rock  upon  rock — rock 
upon  rock — snow  upon  snow — snow  upon  snow/ 
said  he;  '  even  if  you  get  over  the  snow,  you  will  not 
be  able  to  get  down  from  the  mountains/  He  made 
us  the  sign  of  precipices,  and  showed  us  how  the  feet 
of  the  horses  would  slip,  and  throw  them  off  from 
the  narrow  trails  which  led  along  their  sides.  Our 
Chinook,  who  comprehended  even  more  readily  than 
ourselves,  and  believed  our  situation  hopeless,  cov- 
ered his  head  with  his  blanket,  and  began  to  weep 
and  lament.  '  I  wanted  to  see  the  whites/  said  he ; 
'  I  came,  away  from  my  own  people  to  see  the  whites, 
and  I  wouldn't  care  to  die  among  them ;  but  here ' 

and  he  looked  around  into  the  cold  night  and 

gloomy  forest,  and,  drawing  his  blanket  over  his 
head,  began  again  to  lament. 

"  Seated  around  the  tree,  the  fire  illuminating  the 
rocks  and  the  tall  bolls  of  the  pines  round  about,  and 
the  old  Indian  haranguing,  we  presented  a  group  of 
very  serious  faces. 

"  February  5.     The  night  had  been  too  cold  to 


102  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

sleep,  and  we  were  up  very  early.  Our  guide  was 
standing  by  the  fire  with  all  his  finery  on ;  and,  see- 
ing him  shiver  in  the  cold,  I  threw  on  his  shoulders 
one  of  my  blankets.  We  missed  him  a  few  minutes 
afterwards,  and  never  saw  him  again.  He  had 
deserted. 

"  While  a  portion  of  the  camp  were  occupied  in 
bringing  up  the  baggage  to  this  point,  the  remainder 
were  busied  in  making  sledges  and  snow-shoes.  I 
had  determined  to  explore  the  mountain  ahead,  and 
the  sledges  were  to  be  used  in  transporting  the 
baggage. 

"  February  6.  Accompanied  by  Mr.  Fitzpatrick, 
I  sat  out  to-day  with  a  reconnoitring  party,  on  snow- 
shoes.  We  marched  all  in  a  single  file,  trampling 
the  snow  as  heavily  as  we  could.  Crossing  the  open 
basin,  in  a  march  of  about  ten  miles  we  reached  the 
top  of  one  of  the  peaks,  to  the  left  of  the  pass  indi- 
cated by  our  guide.  Far  below  us,  dimmed  by  the 
distance,  was  a  large  snowless  valley,  bounded  on  the 
western  side,  at  the  distance  of  about  a  hundred 
miles,  by  a  low  range  of  mountains,  which  Carson 
recognized  with  delight  as  the  mountains  bordering 
the  coast.  *  There,'  said  he,  '  is  the  little  mountain — 
it  is  fifteen  years  ago  since  I  saw  it;  but  I  am  just  as 
sure  as  if  I  had  seen  it  yesterday.'  Between  us,  then, 
and  this  low  coast  range,  was  the  valley  of  the  Sacra- 
mento; and  no  one  who  had  not  accompanied  us 
through  the  incidents  of  our  life  for  the  last  few 
months,  could  realize  the  delight  with  which  at  last 
we  looked  down  upon  it.  At  the  distance  of  ap- 
parently thirty  miles  beyond  us  were  distinguished 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  1 03 

spots  of  prairie;  and  a  dark  line,  which  could  be 
traced  with  the  glass,  was  imagined  to  be  the  course 
of  the  river ;  but  we  were  evidently  at  a  great  height 
above  the  valley,  and  between  us  and  the  plains  ex- 
tended miles  of  snowy  fields,  and  broken  ridges  of 
pine-covered  mountains. 

"  It  was  late  in  the  day  when  we  turned  towards 
the  camp;  and  it  grew  rapidly  cold  as  it  drew  to- 
wards night.  One  of  the  men  became  fatigued,  and 
his  feet  began  to  freeze,  and,  building  a  fire  in  the 
trunk  of  a  dry  old  cedar,  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  remained 
with  him  until  his  clothes  could  be  dried,  and  he  was 
in  a  condition  to  come  on.  After  a  day's  march  of 
twenty  miles,  we  straggled  into  camp,  one  after  an- 
other, at  nightfall;  the  greater  number  excessively 
fatigued,  only  two  of  the  party  having  ever  travelled 
on  snow-shoes  before. 

"  All  our  energies  were  now  directed  to  getting 
our  animals  across  the  snow;  and  it  was  supposed 
that,  after  all  the  baggage  had  been  drawn  with  the 
sleighs  over  the  trail  we  had  made,  it  would  be  suffi- 
ciently hard  to  bear  our  animals.  At  several  places, 
between  this  point  and  the  ridge,  we  had  discovered 
some  grassy  spots,  where  the  wind  and  sun  had  dis- 
persed the  snow  from  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  these 
were  to  form  resting-places  to  support  the  animals 
for  a  night  in  their  passage  across.  On  our  way 
across,  we  had  set  on  fire  several  broken  stumps,  and 
dried  trees,  to  melt  holes  in  the  snow  for  the  camps. 
Its  general  depth  was  five  feet;  but  we  passed  over 
places  where  it  was  twenty  feet  deep,  as  shown  by 
the  trees. 


104  AMERICAN    BIOGRAPHY 

"  With  one  party  drawing  sleighs  loaded  with 
baggage,  I  advanced  to-day,  about  four  miles  along 
the  trail,  and  encamped  at  the  first  grassy  spot  where 
we  expected  to  bring  our  horses.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick, 
with  another  party,  remained  behind,  to  form  an  in- 
termediate station  between  us  ancHhe  animals. 

"  February  8.  The  night  has  been  extremely 
cold;  but  perfectly  still,  and  beautifully  clear.  Be- 
fore the  sun  appeared  this  morning,  the  thermometer 
was  3°  below  zero;  i°  higher,  when  his  rays  struck 
the  lofty  peaks ;  and  o°  when  they  reached  our  camp. 

"  Scenery  and  weather  combined  must  render 
these  mountains  beautiful  in  summer ;  the  purity  and 
deep-blue  color  of  the  sky  are  singularly  beautiful; 
the  days  are  sunny  and  bright,  and  even  warm  in 
the  noon  hours;  and  if  we  could  be  free  from  the 
many  anxieties  that  oppress  us,  even  now  we  would 
be  delighted  here;  but  our  provisions  are  getting 
fearfully  scant. 

"  Putting  on  our  snow-shoes,  we  spent  the  after- 
noon in  exploring  a  road  ahead.  The  glare  of  the 
snow,  combined  with  great  fatigue,  had  rendered 
many  of  the  people  nearly  blind,  but  we  were  for- 
tunate in  having  some  black  silk  handkerchiefs, 
which,  worn  as  veils,  very  much  relieved  the  eye. 

"February  n.  In  the  evening  I  received  a  mes- 
sage from  Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  acquainting  me  with  the 
utter  failure  of  his  attempt  to  get  our  mules  and 
horses  over  the  snow — the  half-hidden  trail  had 
proved  entirely  too  slight  to  support  them,  and  they 
had  broken  through,  and  were  plunging  about  or 
lying  half-buried  in  snow.  He  was  occupied  in  en- 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  10$ 

deavoring  to  get  them  back  to  his  camp ;  and  in  the 
meantime  sent  to  me  for  further  instructions.  I 
wrote  to  him  to  send  the  animals  immediately  back 
to  their  old  pastures ;  and,  after  having  made  mauls 
and  shovels,  turn  in  all  the  strength  of  his  party  to 
open  and  beat  a  road  through  the  snow,  strengthen- 
ing it  with  branches  and  boughs  of  the  pines. 

"  February  12.  We  made  mauls,  and  worked  hard 
at  our  end  of  the  road  all  the  day.  The  wind  was 
high,  but  the  sun  bright,  and  the  snow  thawing. 
We  worked  down  the  face  of  the  hill,  to  meet  the 
people  at  the  other  end.  Towards  sundown  it  be- 
gan to  grow  cold,  and  we  shouldered  our  mauls  and 
trudged  back  to  camp. 

"  February  13.  We  continued  to  labor  on  the 
road ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  day  had  the  satisfac- 
tion to  see  the  people  working  down  the  face  of  the 
opposite  hill,  about  three  miles  distant.  During  the 
morning  we  had  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  Mr. 
Fitzpatrick,  with  the  information  that  all  was  going 
on  well.  A  party  of  Indians  had  passed  on  snow- 
shoes,  who  said  they  were  going  to  the  western  side 
of  the  mountain  after  fish.  This  was  an  indication 
that  the  salmon  were  coming  up  the  streams;  and 
we  could  hardly  restrain  our  impatience  as  we 
thought  of  them,  and  worked  with  increased  vigor. 

"  February  14.  With  Mr.  Preuss,  I  ascended  to- 
day the  highest  peak  to  the  right;  from  which  we 
had  a  beautiful  view  of  a  mountain  lake  at  our  feet, 
about  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  so  entirely  sur- 
rounded by  mountains  that  we  could  not  discover 
an  outlet.  We  had  taken  with  us  a  glass;  but. 


IO6  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

though  we  enjoyed  an  extended  view,  the  valley  was 
half  hidden  in  mist,  as  when  we  had  seen  it  before. 
Snow  could  be  distinguished  on  the  higher  parts  of 
the  coast  mountains;  eastward,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  extend,  it  ranged  over  a  terrible  mass  of 
broken  snowy  mountains,  fading  off  blue  in  the 
distance. 

"  February  16.  We  had  succeeded  in  getting  our 
animals  safely  to  the  first  grassy  hill ;  and  this  morn- 
ing I  started  with  Jacob  on  a  reconnoitring  expedi- 
tion beyond  the  mountain.  We  travelled  along  the 
crests  of  narrow  ridges,  extending  down  from  the 
mountain  in  the  direction  of  the  valley,  from  which 
the  snow  was  fast  melting  away.  On  the  open  spots 
was  tolerably  good  grass;  and  I  judged  we  should 
succeed  in  getting  the  camp  down  by  way  of  these. 
Towards  sundown  we  discovered  some  icy  spots  in  a 
deep  hollow;  and,  descending  the  mountain,  we  en- 
camped on  the  head-water  of  a  little  creek,  where  at 
last  the  water  found  its  way  to  the  Pacific. 

"  The  night  was  clear  and  very  long.  We  heard 
the  cries  of  some  wild  animals,  which  had  been  at- 
tracted by  our  fire,  and  a  flock  of  geese  passed  over 
during  the  night.  Even  these  strange  sounds  had 
something  pleasant  to  our  senses  in  this  region  of 
silence  and  desolation. 

"  We  started  again  early  in  the  morning.  The 
creek  acquired  a  regular  breadth  of  about  twenty 
feet,  and  we  soon  began  to  hear  the  rushing  of  the 
water  below  the  ice  surface,  over  which  we  travelled 
to  avoid  the  snow;  a  few  miles  below  we  broke 
through,  where  the  water  was  several  feet  deep,  and 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  107 

halted  to  make  a  fire  and  dry  our  clothes.  We  con- 
tinued a  few  miles  further,  walking  being  very 
laborious  without  snowshoes. 

"  I  was  now  perfectly  satisfied  that  we  had  struck 
the  stream  on  which  Mr.  Sutter  lived ;  and,  turning 
about,  made  a  hard  push,  and  reached  the  camp  at 
dark.  Here  we  had  the  pleasure  to  find  all  the  re- 
maining animals,  fifty-seven  in  number,  safely  ar- 
rived at  the  grassy  hill  near  the  camp ;  and  here,  also, 
we  were  agreeably  surprised  with,  the  sight  of  an 
abundance  of  salt.  Some  of  the  horse-guard  had 
gone  to  a  neighboring  hut  for  pine  nuts,  and  discov- 
ered, unexpectedly,  a  large  cake  of  very  white,  fine- 
grained salt,  which  the  Indians  told  them  they  had 
brought  from  the  other  side  of  the  mountain;  they 
used  it  to  eat  with  their  pine  nuts,  and  readily  sold  it 
for  goods. 

"  On  the  iQth  the  people  were  occupied  in  making 
a  road  and  bringing  up  the  baggage;  and,  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  next  day,  February  20,  1844,  we 
encamped  with  the  animals  and  all  the  material  of 
the  camp,  on  the  summit  of  the  Pass  in  the  dividing 
ridge,  1,000  miles  by  our  travelled  road  from  the 
Dalles  of  the  Columbia. 

"  The  people,  who  had  not  yet  been  to  this  point, 
climbed  the  neighboring  peak  to  enjoy  a  look  at  the 
valley. 

"  The  temperature  of  boiling  water  gave  for  the 
elevation  of  the  encampment  9,338  feet  above 
the  sea. 

"  This  was  2,000  feet  higher  than  the  South  Pass 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  several  peaks  in  view 


108  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

rose  several  thousand  feet  still  higher.  Thus,  at  the 
extremity  of  the  continent,  and  near  the  coast,  the 
phenomenon  was  seen  of  a  range  of  mountains  still 
higher  than  the  great  Rocky  Mountains  themselves. 
This  extraordinary  fact  accounts  for  the  Great 
Basin,  and  shows  that  there  must  be  a  system  of 
small  lakes  and  rivers  here  scattered  over  a  flat 
country,  and  which  the  extended  and  lofty  range  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada  prevents  from  escaping  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Latitude  38°  44',  longitude 
120°  28'. 

"  Thus  this  pass  in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which  so 
well  deserves  its  name  of  Snowy  Mountain,  is  eleven 
degrees  west,  and  aJDOUt  four  degrees  south  of  the 
South  Pass. 

"  February  21.  We  now  considered  ourselves  vic- 
torious over  the  mountain;  having  only  the  descent 
before  us,  and  the  valley  under  our  eyes,  we  felt 
strong  hope  that  we  should  force  our  way  down. 
But  this  was  a  case  in  which  the  descent  was  not 
facile.  Still  deep  fields  of  snow  lay  between,  and 
there  was  a  large  intervening  space  of  rough-look- 
ing mountains,  through  which  we  had  yet  to  wind 
our  way.  Carson  roused  me  this  morning  with  an 
early  fire,  and  we  were  all  up  long  before  day,  in 
order  to  pass  the  snow-fields  before  the  sun  should 
render  the  crust  soft.  We  enjoyed  this  morning  a 
scene  at  sunrise,  which  even  here  was  unusually 
glorious  and  beautiful.  Immediately  above  the  east- 
ern mountains  was  repeated  a  cloud-formed  mass 
of  purple  ranges,  bordered  with  bright  yellow  gold ; 
the  peaks  shot  up  into  a  narrow  line  of  crimson 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  109 

cloud,  above  which  the  air  was  filled  with  a  greenish 
orange;  and  over  all  was  the  singular  beauty  of  the 
blue  sky. 

"  We  had  hard  and  doubtful  labor  yet  before  us, 
as  the  snow  appeared  to  be  heavier  where  the  timber 
began  further  down,  with  few  open  spots.  Ascend- 
ing a  height,  we  traced  out  the  best  line  we  could 
discover  for  the  next  day's  march,  and  had  at  least 
the  consolation  to  see  that  the  mountain  descended 
rapidly.  The  day  had  been  one  of  April;  gusty, 
with  a  few  occasional  flakes  of  snow ;  which,  in  the 
afternoon,  enveloped  the  upper  mountain  in  clouds. 
We  watched  them  anxiously,  as  now  we  dreaded  a 
snow-storm.  Shortly  afterwards  we  heard  the  roll 
of  thunder,  and,  looking  towards  the  valley,  found 
it  all  enveloped  in  a  thunder-storm.  For  us,  as  con- 
nected with  the  idea  of  summer,  it  had  a  singular 
charm;  and  we  watched  its  progress  with  excited 
feelings  until  nearly  sunset,  when  the  sky  cleared  off 
brightly,  and  we  saw  a  shining  line  of  water  direct- 
ing its  course  towards  another,  a  broader  and  larger 
sheet.  We  knew  that  these  could  be  no  other  than 
the  Sacramento  and  the  bay  of  San  Francisco ;  but, 
after  our  long  wandering  in  rugged  mountains, 
where  so  frequently  we  had  met  with  disappoint- 
ments, and  where  the  crossing  of  every  ridge  dis- 
played some  unknown  lake  or  river,  we  were  yet  al- 
most afraid  to  believe  that  we  were  at  last  to  escape 
into  the  genial  country  of  which  we  had  heard  so 
many  glowing  descriptions,  and  dreaded  again  to 
find  some  vast  interior  lake,  whose  bitter  waters 
would  bring  us  disappointment.  On  the  southern 


IIO  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

shore  of  what  appeared  to  be  the  bay,  could  be  traced 
the  gleaming  line  where  entered  another  large 
stream. 

"  February  23.  This  was  our  most  difficult  day; 
we  were  forced  off  the  ridges  by  the  quantity  of 
snow  among  the  timber,  and  obliged  to  take  to  the 
mountain-sides,  where,  occasionally,  rocks  and  a 
southern  exposure  afforded  us  a  chance  to  scramble 
along.  But  these  were  steep  and  slippery  with  snow 
and  ice;  and  the  tough  evergreens  of  the  mountain 
impeded  our  way,  tore  our  skins,  and  exhausted  our 
patience.  Some  of  us  had  the  misfortune  to  wear 
moccasins  with  parfleche  soles,  so  slippery  that  we 
could  not  keep  our  feet,  and  generally  crawled  across 
the  snow  beds.  Axes  and  mauls  were  necessary 
to-day,  to  make  a  road  through  the  snow.  Going 
ahead  with  Carson  to  reconnoitre  the  road,  we 
reached  in  the  afternoon  the  river  which  made  the 
outlet  of  the  lake.  Carson  sprang  over,  clear  across 
a  place  where  the  stream,  was  compressed  among 
rocks,  but  the  parfleche  sole  of  my  moccasin  glanced 
from  the  icy  rock,  and  precipitated  me  into  the  river. 
It  was  some  few  seconds  before  I  could  recover  my- 
self in  the  current,  and  Carson  thinking  me  hurt 
jumped  in  after  me,  and  we  both  had  an  icy  bath. 
We  tried  to  search  awhile  for  my  gun,  which 
had  been  lost  in  the  fall,  but  the  cold  drove 
us  out;  and,  making  a  large  fire  on  the  bank, 
after  we  had  partially  dried  ourselves,  we  went  back 
to  meet  the  camp.  We  afterwards  found  that  the 
gun  had  been  slung  under  the  ice  which  lined  the 
banks  of  the  creek. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  III 

"  Using  our  old  plan  of  breaking  the  road  with 
alternate  horses,  we  reached  the  creek  in  the  evening, 
and  camped  on  a  dry  open  place  in  the  ravine. 

"  February  25.  Continuing  down  the  river,  which 
pursued  a  very  direct  westerly  course  through  a  nar- 
row valley,  with  only  a  very  slight  and  narrow  bot- 
tom land,,  we  made  twelve  miles,  and  encamped  at 
some  old  Indian  huts,  apparently  a  fishing-place  on 
the  river.  The  bottom  was  covered  with  trees  of 
deciduous  foliage^  and  overgrown  with  vines  and 
rushes.  On  a  bench  of  the  hill  near  by,  was  a  field 
of  fresh  green  grass,  six  inches  long  in  some  of  the 
tufts,  which  I  had  the  curiosity  to  measure.  The 
animals  were  driven  here;  and  I  spent  part  of  the 
afternoon  sitting  on  a  large  rock  among  them,  en- 
joying the  pauseless  rapidity  with  which  they  luxu- 
riated in  the  unaccustomed  food. 

"  The  forest  was  imposing  to-day  in  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  trees ;  some  of  the  pines,  bearing  large 
cones,  were  ten  feet  in  diameter;  cedars  also 
abounded,  and  we  measured  one  twenty-eight  and  a 
half  feet  in  circumference  four  feet  from  the  ground. 
This  noble  tree  seemed  here  to  be  in  its  proper  soil 
and  climate.  We  found  it  on  both  sides  of  the 
Sierra,  but  most  abundant  on  the  west. 

"  February  26.  We  continued  to  follow  the 
stream,  the  mountains  on  either  hand  increasing  in 
height  as  we  descended,  and  shutting  up  the  river 
narrowly  in  precipices,  along  which  we  had  great 
difficulty  to  get  our  horses. 

"  Near  nightfall  we  descended  into  the  steep 
ravine  of  a  handsome  creek  thirty  feet  wide,  and  I 


112  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

was  engaged  in  getting  the  horse  up  the  opposite 
hill,  when  I  heard  a  shout  from  Carson,  who  had 
gone  ahead  a  few  hundred  yards :  '  Life  yet/  said 
he  as  he  came  up.,  *  life  yet ;  I  have  found  a  hill-side 
sprinkled  with  grass  enough  for  the  night/  We 
drove  along  our  horses,  and  encamped  at  the  place 
about  dark,  and  there  was  just  room  enough  to  make 
a  place  for  shelter  on  the  edge  of  the  stream. 
Three  horses  were  lost  to-day, — Proveau;  a  fine 
young  horse  from  the  Columbia,  belonging  to 
Charles  Towns;  and  another  Indian  horse  which 
carried  our  cooking  utensils;  the  two  former  gave 
out,  and  the  latter  strayed  off  into  the  woods  as  we 
reached  the  camp. 

"  February  29.  We  lay  shut  up  in  the  narrow 
ravine,  and  gave  the  animals  a  necessary  day;  and 
men  were  sent  back  after  the  others.  Derosier  vol- 
unteered to  bring  up  Proveau  to  whom  he  knew  I 
was  greatly  attached,  as  he  had  been  my  favorite 
horse  on  both  expeditions.  Carson  and  I  climbed 
one  of  the  nearest  mountains;  the  forest  land  still 
extended  ahead,  and  the  valley  appeared  as  far  as 
ever.  The  packhorse  was  found  near  the  camp,  but 
Derosier  did  not  get  in. 

"  March  i.  Derosier  did  not  get  in  during  the 
night,  and  leaving  him  to  follow,  as  no  grass  re- 
mained here,  we  continued  on  over  the  uplands, 
crossing  many  small  streams,  and  camped  again  on 
the  river,  having  made  six  miles.  Here  we  found 
the  hill-side  covered  (although  lightly)  with  fresh 
green  grass;  and  from  this  time  forward  we  found 
it  always  improving  and  abundant." 

On  the  2d  of  March,  Mr.  Preuss  wandered  from 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  113 

the  party,  and  was  lost.  Guns  were  fired,  and  every 
effort  made  to  reach  him.  All  were  filled  with  the 
deepest  distress  at  his  disappearance.  On  the  4th 
of  March  Derosier,  having  volunteered  the  service, 
was  sent  back  to  attempt  to  find  him,  being  charged 
to  follow  the  river,  not  to  continue  the  search  more 
than  a  day  and  a  half,  and,  at  the  end  of  that  time, 
to  turn  back  towards  the  point  from  which  he 
started,  where  a  cache  of  provisions  would  be  left 
for  him. 

"  Towards  evening  we  heard  a  weak  shout  among 
the  hills  behind,  and  had  the  pleasure  to  see  Mr. 
Preuss  descending  towards  the  camp.  Like  our- 
selves, he  had  travelled  to-day  twenty-five  miles,  but 
had  seen  nothing  of  Derosier.  Knowing,  on  the 
day  he  was  lost,  that  I  was  determined  to  keep  the 
river  as  much  as  possible,  he  had  not  thought  it 
necessary  to  follow  the  trail  very  closely,  but  walked 
on  right  and  left,  certain  to  find  it  somewhere  along 
the  river,  searching  places  to  obtain  good  views  of 
the  country.  Towards  sunset  he  climbed  down 
towards  the  river,  to  look  for  the  camp ;  but,  finding, 
no  trail,  concluded  that  we  were  behind,  and  walked 
back  until  night  came  on,  when,  being  very  much 
fatigued,  he  collected  driftwood  and  made  a  large 
fire  among  the  rocks.  The  next  day  it  became  more 
serious,  and  he  encamped  again  alone,  thinking  that 
we  must  have  taken  some  other  course.  To  go  back 
would  have  been  madness  in  his  weak  and  starved 
condition,  and  onward  towards  the  valley  was  his 
only  hope,  always  in  expectation  of  reaching  it  soon. 
His  principal  means  of  subsistence  were  a  few  roots, 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V.  — 8 


114  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

which  the  hunters  call  sweet  onions,  having  very 
little  taste,  but  a  good  deal  of  nutriment,  growing 
generally  in  rocky  ground,  and  requiring  a  good 
deal  of  labor  to  get,  as  he  had  only  a  pocket-knife. 

"  Travelling  the  next  day  feebly  down  the  river, 
he  found  five  or  six  Indians  at  the  huts  of  which  we 
have  spoken.  Some  were  painting  themselves  black, 
and  others  roasting  acorns.  Being  only  one  man, 
they  did  not  run  off,  but  received  him  kindly,  and 
gave  him  a  welcome  supply  of  roasted  acorns.  He 
gave  them  his  pocket-knife  in  return,  and  stretched 
out  his  hand  to  one  of  the  Indians,  who  did  not  ap- 
pear to  comprehend  the  motion,  but  jumped  back,  as 
if  he  thought  he  was  about  to  lay  hold  of  him. 
They  seemed  afraid  of  him,  not  certain  as  to  what 
he  was. 

"  Travelling  on,  he  came  to  the  place  where  we 
had  found  the  squaws.  Here  he  found  our  fire  still 
burning,  and  the  tracks  of  the  horses.  The  sight 
gave  him  sudden  hope  and  courage;  and,  following 
as  fast  as  he  could,  joined  us  at  evening. 

"  March  6.  We  now  pressed  on  more  eagerly  than 
ever;  the  river  swept  round  in  a  large  bend  to  the 
right;  the  hills  lowered  down  entirely;  and,  gradu- 
ally entering  a  broad  valley,  we  came  unexpectedly 
into  a  large  Indian  village,  where  the  people  looked 
clean,  and  wore  cotton  shirts  and  various  other 
articles  of  dress.  They  immediately  crowded 
around  us,  and  we  had  the  inexpressible  delight  to 
find  one  who  spoke  a  little  indifferent  Spanish,  but 
who  at  first  confounded  us  by  saying  there  were  no 
whites  in  the  country;  but  just  then  a  well-dressed 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  11$ 

Indian  came  up,  and  made  his  salutations  in  very 
well-spoken  Spanish.  In  answer  to  our  inquiries, 
he  informed  us  that  we  were  upon  the  Rio  de  los 
Americanos,  (the  river  of  the  Americans,)  and  that 
it  joined  the  Sacramento  River  about  ten  miles  be- 
low. Never  did  a  name  sound  more  sweetly !  We 
felt  ourselves  among  our  countrymen ;  for  the  name 
of  American,  in  these  distant  parts  is  applied  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  To  our  eager  in- 
quiries he  answered,  '  I  am  a  vaquero  (cow-herd)  in 
the  service  of  Captain  Sutter,  and  the  people  of  this 
rancher ia  work  for  him.'  Our  evident  satisfaction 
made  him  communicative;  and  he  went  on  to  say 
that  Captain  Sutter  was  a  very  rich  man,  and  always 
glad  to  see  his  country  people.  We  asked  for  his 
house.  He  answered  that  it  was  just  over  the  hill 
before  us ;  and  offered,  if  we  would  wait  a  moment, 
to  take  his  horse  and  conduct  us  to  it.  We  readily 
accepted  his  civil  offer.  In  a  short  distance  we  came 
in  sight  of  the  fort;  and,  passing  on  the  way  the 
house  of  a  settler  on  the  opposite  side,  (a  Mr.  Sin- 
clair,) we  forded  the  river;  and  in  a  few  miles  were 
met  a  short  distance  from  the  fort  by  Captain  Sutter 
himself.  He  gave  us  a  most  frank  and  cordial  re- 
ception— conducted  us  immediately  to  his  resi- 
dence— and  under  his  hospitable  roof  we  had  a 
night  of  rest,  enjoyment,  and  refreshment,  which 
none  but  ourselves  could  appreciate.  But  the  party 
left  in  the  mountains  with  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  were  to 
be  attended  to ;  and  the  next  morning,  supplied  with 
fresh  horses  and  provisions,  I  hurried  off  to  meet 
them.  On  the  second  day  we  met,  a  few  miles  be- 


Il6  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

low  the  forks  of  the  Rio  de  los  Americanos;  and  a 
more  forlorn  and  pitiable  sight  than  they  presented 
cannot  well  be  imagined.  They  were  all  on  foot — 
each  man,  weak  and  emaciated — leading  a  horse  or 
mule  as  weak  and  emaciated  as  themselves.  They 
had  experienced  great  difficulty  in  descending  the 
mountains,  made  slippery  by  rains  and  melting 
snows,  and  many  horses  fell  over  precipices,  and 
were  killed ;  and  with  some  were  lost  the  packs  they 
carried.  Among  these,  was  a  mule  with  the  plants 
which  we  had  collected  since  leaving  Fort  Hall, 
along  a  line  of  2,000  miles  travel.  Out  of  sixty- 
seven  horses  and  mules  with  which  we  commenced 
crossing  the  Sierra,  only  thirty-three  reached  the 
valley  of  the  Sacramento,  and  they  only  in  a  condi- 
tion to  be  led  along.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  and  his  party, 
travelling  more  slowly,  had  been  able  to  make  some 
little  exertion  at  hunting,  and  had  killed  a  few  deer. 
The  scanty  supply  was  a  great  relief  to  them;  for 
several  had  been  made  sick  by  the  strange  and  un- 
wholesome food  which  the  preservation  of  life  com- 
pelled them  to  use.  We  stopped  and  encamped  as 
soon  as  we  met ;  and  a  repast  of  good  beef,  excellent 
bread,  and  delicious  salmon,  which  I  had  brought 
along,  were  their  first  relief  from  the  sufferings  of 
the  Sierra,  and  their  first  introduction  to  the  luxuries 
of  the  Sacramento.  It  required  all  our  philosophy 
and  forbearance  to  prevent  plenty  from  becoming  as 
hurtful  to  us  now  as  scarcity  had  been  before." 

After  resting  a  few  days,  and  completing  prep- 
arations for  the  homeward  journey,  the  party  started 
on  the  22d  of  March.  The  next  day  Derosier,  who 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  II? 

had  returned  in  safety  from  the  search  for  Mr. 
Preuss,  and  whom  Fremont  ever  regarded  as  among 
his  best  men,  wandered  away  from  the  camp.  It 
was  probably  owing  to  a  return  of  the  mental  de- 
rangement which  the  sufferings  of  the  recent  jour- 
ney had  brought  on.  All  attempts  to  find  him  were 
fruitless,  and  he  was  never  heard  of  more,  until  after 
the  lapse  of  about  two  years,  he  found  his  way  into 
St.  Louis. 

Before  touching  upon  the  events  of  the  homeward 
journey,  which  will  be  briefly  done,  we  may  pause 
for  a  moment,  and  reflect  upon  the  extraordinary 
expedition  from  the  Dalles  to  the  junction  of  the 
Americanos  and  the  Sacramento,  of  which  the  dis- 
appearance of  Derosier  may  be  considered  the  final 
incident. 

When  the  season  of  the  year  at  which  it  started 
from  the  Columbia,  and  the  entirely  unknown  and 
forbidding  character  of  the  region  it  penetrated,  are 
fully  considered,  it  must  be  allowed  to  be  one  of  the 
boldest  adventures  ever  undertaken.  It  was  the 
first  exploration  of  a  vast  region,  of  strange  features, 
and  occupied  by  savage  tribes  and  families  that  no 
traveller  had  ever  described  or  seen,  covering  eleven 
degrees  of  latitude  and  ten  of  longitude,  be- 
tween 4,000  and  5,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  shut  in  between  lofty  ranges  crowned  with 
perpetual  snow,  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  east 
and  the  Sierra  Nevada  on  the  west.  Throughout 
this  great  basin,  the  streams  flow  not  into  rivers 
seeking  distant  seas,  but  into  numerous  and  many  of 
them  wide  lakes,  having  no  apparent  connection  with 


Il8  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  oceans  of  the  globe,  deeply  impregnated  in  some 
instances,  with  saline  and  mineral  ingredients,  in 
some,  turbid  and  thick  with  vegetable  matter,  but 
often  clear,  pure,  refreshing,  translucent  to  great 
depths,  bordered  by  beaches  of  the  finest  sand,  and 
stocked  with  delicious  fish.  The  shores  are  sur- 
rounded by  picturesque,  bold,  and  magnificent 
scenery. 

Of  this  very  remarkable  tract,  constituting  the 
central  plate  or  basin  of  the  continent,  Fremont 
was  the  first  explorer,  and  the  heroism,  resolution, 
and  unconquerable  perseverance  of  his  brave  party, 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  that  series 
of  achievements  which  has  secured  and  subdued  this 
continent  to  our  form  of  civilization,  and  will  bring 
it  all,  at  last,  under  our  flag. 

The  expedition  pursued  its  course  southerly  along 
the  western  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  crossing  the 
heads  of  the  streams  that  flow  through  California 
to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  On  the  I3th  of  April 
it  entered  a  pass,  a  little  above  the  thirty-fifth  parallel 
of  latitude,  and  crossed  the  summit  the  next  day. 

"  As  we  reached  the  summit  of  this  beautiful 
pass,  and  obtained  a  view  into  the  eastern  country, 
we  saw  at  once  that  here  was  the  place  to  take  leave 
of  all  such  pleasant  scenes  as  those  around  us.  The 
distant  mountains  were  now  bald  rocks  again;  and 
below,  the  land  had  any  color  but  green.  Taking 
into  consideration  the  nature  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
we  found  this  pass  an  excellent  one  for  horses ;  and 
with  a  little  labor,  or  perhaps  with  a  more  perfect 
examination  of  the  localities,  it  might  be  made  suffi- 
ciently practicable  for  wagons. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  1 19 

"  We  here  left  the  waters  of  the  Bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and,  though  forced  upon  them  contrary  to  my 
intentions,  I  cannot  regret  the  necessity  which  occa- 
sioned the  deviation.  It  made  me  well  acquainted 
with  the  great  range  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  of  the 
Alta  California,  and  showed  that  this  broad  and  ele- 
vated snowy  ridge  was  a  continuation  of  the  Cascade 
Range,  of  Oregon,  between  which  and  the  ocean 
there  is  still  another  and  a  lower  range,  parallel  to 
the  former  and  to  the  coast,  and  which  may  be  called 
the  Coast  Range.  It  also  made  me  well  acquainted 
with  the  basin  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay,  and  with 
the  two  pretty  rivers  and  their  valleys,  (the  Sacra- 
mento and  San  Joaquin,)  which  are  tributary  to  that 
bay;  and  cleared  up  some  points  in  geography  on 
which  error  had  long  prevailed.  It  had  been  con- 
stantly represented,  as  I  have  already  stated,  that 
the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  opened  far  into  the  in- 
terior, by  some  river  coming  down  from  the  base  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  upon  which  supposed 
stream  the  name  of  Rio  Buenaventura  had  been  be- 
stowed. Our  observations  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  in 
the  long  distance  from  the  head  of  the  Sacramento  to 
the  head  of  the  San  Joaquin,  and  of  the  valley  below 
it,  which  collects  all  the  waters  of  the  San  Francisco 
Bay,  show  that  this  neither  is  nor  can  be  the  case. 
No  river  from  the  interior  does  or  can  cross  the 
Sierra  Nevada — itself  more  lofty  than  the  Rocky 
Mountains  ;and  as  to  the  Buenaventura,  the  mouth  of 
which,  seen  on  the  coast,  gave  the  idea  and  the  name 
of  the  reputed  great  river,  it  is,  in  fact,  a  small 
stream  of  no  consequence,  not  only  below  the  Sierra 


120  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

Nevada,  but  actually  below  the  Coast  Range,  taking 
its  rise  within  half  a  degree  of  the  ocean,  running 
parallel  to  it  for  about  two  degrees,  and  then  falling 
into  the  Pacific  near  Monterey.  There  is  no  open- 
ing from  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  into  the  interior 
of  the  continent.  The  two  rivers  which  flow  into  it 
are  comparatively  short,  and  not  perpendicular  to 
the  coast,  but  lateral  to  it,  and  having  their  heads 
towards  Oregon  and  Southern  California.  They 
open  lines  of  communication  north  and  south,  and 
not  eastwardly ;  and  thus  this  want  of  interior  com- 
munication from  the  San  Francisco  Bay,  now  fully 
ascertained,  gives  great  additional  value  to  the  Co- 
lumbia, which  stands  alone  as  the  only  great  river  on 
the  Pacific  slope  of  our  continent  which  leads  from 
the  ocean  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  opens  a  line 
of  communication  from  the  sea  to  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  v 

"  Our  cavalcade  made  a  strange  and  grotesque 
appearance,  and  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  reflecting 
upon  our  position  and  composition  in  this  remote 
solitude.  Within  two  degrees  of  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
already  far  south  of  the  latitude  of  Monterey,  and 
still  forced  on  south  by  a  desert  on  one  hand,  and  a 
mountain  range  on  the  other,  guided  by  a  civilized 
Indian,  attended  by  two  wild  ones  from  the  Sierra,  a 
Chinook  from  the  Columbia,  and  our  own  mixture 
of  American,  French,  German,  all  armed,  four  or 
five  languages  heard  at  once,  above  a  hundred  horses 
and  mules,  half  wild,  American,  Spanish,  and  Indian 
dresses  and  equipments  intermingled, — such  was  our 
composition.  Our  march  was  a  sort  of  procession 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  121 

— scouts  ahead  and  on  the  flanks,  a  front  and  rear 
division,  the  pack  animals,  baggage,  and  horned 
cattle  in  the  centre,  and  the  whole  stretching  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  along  our  dreary  path. 

"  April  25.  In  the  afternoon,,  we  were  surprised 
by  the  sudden  appearance  in  the  camp  of  two  Mexi- 
cans— a  man  and  a  boy.  The  name  of  the  man  was 
Andreas  Fuentes,  and  that  of  the  boy  (a  handsome 
lad  eleven  years  old)  Pablo  Hernandez.  They  be- 
longed to  a  party  consisting  of  six  persons,  the  re- 
maining four  being  the  wife  of  Fuentes,  the  father 
and  mother  of  Pablo,  and  Santiago  Giacome,  a  resi- 
dent of  New  Mexico.  With  a  cavalcade  of  about 
thirty  horses,  they  had  come  out  from  Puebla  de  los 
Angeles,  near  the  coast,  under  the  guidance  of 
Gjacome,  in  advance  of  the  great  caravan,  in  order 
to  travel  more  at  leisure  and  obtain  better  grass. 
Having  advanced  as  far  into  the  desert  as  was  con- 
sidered consistent  with  their  safety,  they  halted  at 
the  Archilette,  one  of  the  customary  camping 
grounds,  about  eighty  miles  from  our  encampment, 
where  there  is  a  spring  of  good  water,  with  sufficient 
grass,  and  concluded  to  await  there  the  arrival  of  the 
great  caravan.  Several  Indians  were  soon  discov- 
ered lurking  about  the  camp,  who,  in  a  day  or  two 
after,  came  in,  and,  after  behaving  in  a  very  friendly 
manner,  took  their  leave,  without  awakening  any 
suspicions.  Their  deportment  begat  a  security 
which  proved  fatal.  In  a  few  days  afterwards, 
suddenly  a  party  of  about  one  hundred  Indians  ap- 
peared in  sight,  advancing  towards  the  camp.  It 
was  too  late,  or  they  seemed  not  to  have  presence 


122  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

of  mind  to  take  proper  measures  of  safety,  and  the 
Indians  charged  down  into  their  camp,  shouting  as 
they  advanced,  and  discharging  flights  of  arrows. 
Pablo  and  Fuentes  were  on  horse-guard  at  the  time, 
and  mounted,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  coun- 
try. One  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  Indians  was 
to  get  possession  of  the  horses,  and  part  of  them  im- 
mediately surrounded  the  band ;  but,  in  obedience  to 
the  shouts  of  Giacome,  Fuentes  drove  the  animals 
over  and  through  the  assailants,  in  spite  of  their 
arrows ;  and,  abandoning  the  rest  to  their  fate,  car- 
ried them  off  at  speed  across  the  plain.  Knowing 
that  they  would  be  pursued  by  the  Indians,  without 
making  any  halt  except  to  shift  their  saddles  to  other 
horses,  they  drove  them  on  for  about  sixty  miles, 
and  this  morning  left  them  at  a  watering-place  on 
the  trail  called  Agua  de  Tomaso.  Without  giving 
themselves  any  time  for  rest,  they  hurried  on,  hop- 
ing to  meet  the  Spanish  caravan,  when  they  discov- 
ered my  camp.  I  received  them  kindly,  taking  them 
into  my  own  mess,  and  promised  them  such  aid  as 
circumstances  might  put  it  in  my  power  to  give." 

Fuentes  was  filled  with  the  deepest  anxiety  about 
the  fate  of  his  wife,  and  Pablo  about  that  of  his 
father  and  mother.  There  was  every  reason,  in- 
deed, to  fear  the  worst.  The  sensibilities  of  Fre- 
mont's noble-hearted  men  were  highly  excited  by  the 
expressions  of  their  grief),  and  Carson  and  Godey 
volunteered  to  accompany  Fuentes  in  pursuit  of  the 
Indians,  hoping  to  deliver  the  captives,  if  alive,  or 
avenge  them,  if  dead.  Fuentes  returned  the  same 
night,  his  horse  having  given  out,  but  Carson  and 
Godey  kept  on. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT 

"  In  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  a  war-whoop 
was  heard,  such  as  Indians  make  when  returning 
from  a  victorious  enterprise;  and  soon  Carson  and 
Godey  appeared,  driving  before  them  a  band  of 
horses,  recognized  by  Fuentes  to  be  part  of  those 
they  had  lost.  Two  bloody  scalps,  dangling  from 
the  end  of  Godey's  gun,  announced  that  they  had 
overtaken  the  Indians,  as  well  as  the  horses.  They 
informed  us,  that  after  Fuentes  left  them,  from  the 
failure  of  his  horse,  they  continued  the  pursuit  alone, 
and  towards  nightfall  entered  the  mountains,  into 
which  the  trail  led.  After  sunset  the  moon  gave 
light,  and  they  followed  the  trail  by  moonshine  until 
late  in  the  night,  when  it  entered  a  narrow  defile,  and 
was  difficult  to  follow.  Afraid  of  losing  it  in  the 
darkness  of  the  defile,  they  tied  up  their  horses, 
struck  no  fire,  and  lay  down  to  sleep  in  silence  and  in 
darkness.  Here  they  lay  from  midnight  till  morn- 
ing. At  daylight  they  resumed  the  pursuit,  and 
about  sunrise  discovered  the  horses;  and,  immedi- 
ately dismounting  and  tying  up  their  own,  they  crept 
cautiously  to  a  rising  ground  which  intervened,  from 
the  crest  of  which  they  perceived  the  encampment 
of  four  lodges  close  by.  They  proceeded  quietly, 
and  had  got  with  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  their  ob- 
ject, when  a  movement  among  the  horses  discovered 
them  to  the  Indians ;  giving  the  war  shout,  they  in- 
stantly charged  into  the  camp,  regardless  of  the 
number  which  the  four  lodges  would  imply.  The 
Indians  received  them  with  a  flight  of  arrows  shot 
from  their  long  bows,  one  of  which  passed  through 
Godey's  shirt  collar,  barely  missing  the  neck;  our 


124  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

men  fired  their  rifles  upon  a  steady  aim,  and  rushed 
in.  Two  Indians  were  stretched  on  the  ground, 
fatally  pierced  with  bullets ;  the  rest  fled,  except  a  lad 
that  was  captured.  The  scalps  of  the  fallen  were  in- 
stantly stripped  off ;  but  in  the  process,  one  of  them, 
who  had  a  ball  through  his  body,  sprung  to  his  feet, 
the  blood  streaming  from  his  skinned  head,  and  ut- 
tering a  hideous  howl.  An  old  squaw,  possibly  his 
mother,  stopped  and  looked  back  from  the  mountain 
side  she  was  climbing,  threatening  and  lamenting. 
The  frightful  spectacle  appalled  the  stout  hearts  of 
our  men ;  but  they  did  what  humanity  required,  and 
quickly  terminated  the  agonies  of  the  gory  savage. 
They  were  now  masters  of  the  camp,  which  was  a 
pretty  little  recess  in  the  mountain,  with  a  fine 
spring,  and  apparently  safe  from  all  invasion. 
Great  preparations  had  been  made  to  feast  a  large 
party,  for  it  was  a  very  proper  place  for  a  rendez- 
vous, and  for  the  celebration  of  such  orgies  as  rob- 
bers of  the  desert  would  delight  in.  Several  of  the 
best  horses  had  been  killed,  skinned,  and  cut  up ;  for 
the  Indians  living  in  mountains,  and  only  coming 
into  the  plains  to  rob  and  murder,  make  no  other  use 
of  horses  than  to  eat  them.  Large  earthen  vessels 
were  on  the  fire,  boiling  and  stewing  the  horse-beef ; 
and  several  baskets,  containing  fifty  or  sixty  pairs 
of  moccasins,  indicated  the  presence,  or  expectation, 
of  a  considerable  party.  They  released  the  boy, 
who  had  given  strong  evidence  of  the  stoicism,  or 
something  else,  of  the  savage  character,  in  com- 
mencing his  breakfast  upon  a  horse's  head  as  soon 
as  he  found  he  was  not  to  be  killed,  but  only  tied  as 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  12$ 

a  prisoner.  Their  object  accomplished,  our  men 
gathered  up  all  the  surviving  horses,  fifteen  in  num- 
ber, returned  upon  their  trail,  and  rejoined  us  at  our 
camp  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day.  They  had 
rode  about  one  hundred  miles  in  the  pursuit  and 
return,  and  all  in  thirty  hours.  The  time,  place, 
object,  and  numbers  considered,  this  expedition  of 
Carson  and  Godey  may  be  considered  among  the 
boldest  and  most  disinterested  which  the  annals  of 
western  adventure,  so  full  of  daring  deeds,  can  pre- 
sent. Two  men,  in  a  savage  desert,  pursue  day  and 
night  an  unknown  body  of  Indians  into  the  defiles 
of  an  unknown  mountain — attack  them  on  sight, 
without  counting  numbers — and  defeat  them  in  an 
instant, — and  for  what?  To  punish  the  robbers  of 
the  desert,  and  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  Mexicans 
whom  they  did  not  know.  I  repeat :  it  was  Carson 
and  Godey  who  did  this — the  former  an  American, 
born  in  Kentucky;  the  latter  a  Frenchman  by  de- 
scent, born  in  St.  Louis ;  and  both  trained  to  western 
enterprise  from  early  life." 

The  foregoing  passage  presents  a  horrid  spectacle 
of  the  barbarities  incident  to  a  wilderness  life.  The 
mind  shudders  at  the  details  of  the  bloody  conflict; 
but  it  was  not  long  before  ample  and  fearful  evi- 
dence appeared  that  the  sudden  and  awful  retribu- 
tion inflicted  upon  the  savages  by  the  intrepid  Car- 
son and  his  well-matched  associate,  was  fully 
merited. 

"  April  29.  To-day  we  had  to  reach  the  Ar- 
chilette,  distant  seven  miles,  where  the  Mexican 
party  had  been  attacked;  and,  leaving  our  encamp- 


126  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

ment  early,  we  traversed  a  part  of  the  desert,  the 
most  sterile  and  repulsive  that  we  had  yet  seen.  Its 
prominent  features  were  dark  sierras,  naked  and 
dry;  on  the  plains  a  few  straggling  shrubs — among 
them,  cactus  of  several  varieties.  Fuentes  pointed 
out  one  called  by  the  Spaniards  bisnada,  which  has 
a  juicy  pulp,  slightly  acid,  and  is  eaten  by  the  trav- 
eller to  allay  thirst.  Our  course  was  generally 
north;  and,  after  crossing  an  intervening  ridge,  we 
descended  into  a  sandy  plain,  or  basin,  in  the  middle 
of  which  was  the  grassy  spot,  with  its  springs  and 
willow  bushes,  which  constitutes  a  camping-place  in 
the  desert,  and  is  called  the  Archilette.  The  dead 
silence  of  the  place  was  ominous;  and,  galloping 
rapidly  up,  we  found  only  the  corpses  of  the  two 
men ;  every  thing  else  was  gone.  They  were  naked, 
mutilated,  and  pierced  with  arrows.  Hernandez 
had  evidently  fought,  and  with  desperation.  He  lay 
in  advance  of  the  willow,  half-faced  tent,  which 
sheltered  his  family,  as  if  he  had  come  out  to  meet 
danger,  and  to  repulse  it  from  that  asylum.  One 
of  his  hands,  and  both  his  legs,  had  been  cut  off. 
Giacome,  who  was  a  large  and  strong-looking  man, 
was  lying  in  one  of  the  willow  shelters,  pierced  with 
arrows.  Of  the  women  no  trace  could  be  found, 
and  it  was  evident  they  had  been  carried  off  captive. 
A  little  lap-dog,  which  had  belonged  to  Pablo's 
mother/,  remained  with  the  dead  bodies,  and  was 
frantic  with  joy  at  seeing  Pablo;  he,  poor  child,  was 
frantic  with  grief;  and  filled  the  air  with  lamenta- 
tions for  his  father  and  mother.  Mi  padre. — mi 
madre! — was  his  incessant  cry.  When  we  beheld 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  12? 

this  pitiable  sight,  and  pictured  to  ourselves  the  fate 
of  the  two  women,  carried  off  by  savages  so  brutal 
and  so  loathsome,  all  compunction  for  the  scalped- 
alive  Indian  ceased;  and  we  rejoiced  that  Carson  and 
Godey  had  been  able  to  give  so  useful  a  lesson  to 
these  American  Arabs,  who  lie  in  wait  to  murder 
and  plunder  the  innocent  traveller. 

"  We  were  all  too  much  affected  by  the  sad  feel- 
ings which  the  place  inspired,  to  remain  an  unneces- 
sary moment.  The  night  we  were  obliged  to  pass 
there.  Early  in  the  morning  we  left  it,  having  first 
written  a  brief  account  of  what  had  happened,  and 
put  it  in  the  cleft  of  a  pole  planted  at  the  spring,  that 
the  approaching  caravan  might  learn  the  fate  of 
their  friends.  In  commemoration  of  the  event,  we 
called  the  place  Agua  de  Hernandez — Hernandez's 
spring." 

It  was  afterwards  ascertained  that  the  wife  of 
Fuentes,  and  mother  of  Pablo,  were  both  murdered 
at  a  short  distance  beyond,  and  probably  a  few  hours 
after  their  capture,  under  circumstances  of  the  most 
incredible  and  brutal  cruelty,  and  after  fiendlike  out- 
rages and  tortures. 

The  circumstances  just  related  prove  that  Kit 
Carson  is  worthy  of  the  renown  he  enjoys  in  the 
estimation  of  the  backwoodsmen  of  America,  as  the 
hero  of  the  prairies  and  the  mountains.  His  name 
is  so  intimately  identified  with  that  of  Fremont,  that 
these  pages  owe  a  special  tribute  to  his  manly  and 
noble  virtues.  They  first  met  accidentally  on  a 
steamboat  above  St.  Louis,  as  Fremont  was  starting 
on  his  first  expedition — neither  had  ever  heard  of 


128  AMEICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  other.  But  Carson's  character,  although  then 
unknown  in  the  settlements,  had  long  before  become 
an  object  of  pride  and  admiration  to  every  brave 
heart  among  the  trappers  and  hunters  of  America. 
Christopher  Carson  was  born  in  Kentucky  about 
the  year  1811,  his  father  having  been  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  that  State,  and  noted  in  his  day  as  a 
hunter  and  Indian  fighter.  Within  a  year  or  two 
after  the  birth  of  Kit,  the  family  moved  to  the  then 
frontiers  of  Missouri.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  Kit 
joined  a  trading  party  to  Santa  Fe.  From  that 
point  he  went  into  the  lower.  Mexican  provinces,  fol- 
lowing various  adventures;  among  others  he  was 
employed  for  some  time  as  a  teamster,  in  connection 
with  the  copper  mines  of  Chihuahua.  At  seventeen 
years  of  age  he  commenced  life  as  a  trapper,  in  the 
region  of  the  Rio  Colorado  of  California.  After 
many  perils  he  returned  to  Taos,  in  New  Mexico, 
and  joined  a  trapping  party  to  the  head  waters  of 
the  Arkansas,  and  spent  about  eight  years  in  that 
occupation,  principally  among  the  mountains  where 
the  Missouri  and  Columbia  rivers  take  their  rise. 
The  business  of  trapping  was  then  in  its  more  flour- 
ishing state,  and  formed  a  class  of  men  of  marked 
and  striking  traits.  Nature  in  her  original  aspects, 
and  in  all  her  wildness  and  grandeur,  was  their 
home.  Savages,  fierce,  brave,  and  stealthy,  met 
them  at  every  point — and  privation,  danger,  and  suf- 
fering were  an  ordinary  experience.  This  mode  of 
life,  in  its  perfect  freedom  and  manly  excitements 
and  achievements,  was  favorable  in  many  respects 
to  the  development  of  noble  energies  and  sentiments. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT 

Carson  soon  became  preeminent  in  these  character- 
istics, and  was  famous  as  a  successful  trapper, 
unerring  shot,  and  reliable  guide  and  leader.  In 
conflicts  with  hostile  Indians  he  conducted  many  a 
daring  and  victorious  enterprise.  In  one  of  these 
conflicts  .with  the  Blackfeet  he  received  a  rifle  ball  in 
his  left  shoulder,  the  only  personal  injury  he  ever 
met  in  battle. 

He  is  a  remarkably  peaceable  and  quiet  man,  tem- 
perate in  his  habits,  and  stictly  moral  in  his  deport- 
ment. In  a  letter  written  from  California,  in  1847, 
introducing  Carson  as  the  bearer  of  despatches  to 
the  Government,  Colonel  Fremont  says,  "  with  me, 
Carson  and  truth  mean  the  same  thing.  He  is  al- 
ways the  same — gallant  and  disinterested."  He  is 
kind-hearted,  and  averse  to  all  quarrelsome  and  tur- 
bulent scenes,  and  has  never  been  engaged  in  any 
mere  personal  broils  or  encounters,  except  on  one 
single  occasion,  which  he  sometimes  modestly  de- 
scribes to  his  friends. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  the  expedition,  having 
skirted  the  southern  rim  of  the  great  basin,  reached 
the  Utah  Lake.  At  this  point  it  is  eminently  proper 
to  let  Fremont  himself  review  his  route. 

"  Early  the  next  day  we  came  in  sight  of  the  lake ; 
and,  as  we  descended  to  ,the  broad  bottoms  of  the 
Spanish  Fork,  three  horsemen  were  seen  galloping 
towards  us,  who  proved  to  be  Utah  Indians — scouts 
from  a  village,  which  was  encamped  near  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  They  were  armed  with  rifles,  and  their 
horses  were  in  good  condition.  We  encamped  near 
them,  on  the  Spanish  Fork,  which  is  one  of  the  prin- 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v. — 9 


130  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

cipal  tributaries  to  the  lake.  Finding  the  Indians 
troublesome,  and  desirous  to  remain  here  a  day,  we 
removed  the  next  morning  further  down  the  lake, 
and  encamped  on  a  fertile  bottom  near  the  foot  of 
the  same  mountainous  ridge  which  borders  the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  and  along  which  we  had  journeyed  the 
previous  September. 

"  We  had  now  accomplished  an  object  we  had  in 
view  when  leaving  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia  in  No- 
vember last ;  we  had  reached  the  Utah  Lake ;  but  by  a 
route  very  different  from  what  we  had  intended,  and 
without  sufficient  time  remaining  to  make  the  ex- 
aminations which  were  desired.  It  is  a  lake  of  note 
in  this  country,  under  the  dominion  of  the  Utahs, 
who  resort  to  it  for  fish.  Its  greatest  breadth  is 
about  fifteen  miles,  stretching  far  to  the  north,  nar- 
rowing as  it  goes,  and  connecting  with  the  Great 
Salt  Lake. 

"  In  arriving  at  the  Utah  Lake,  we  had  completed 
an  immense  circuit  of  twelve  degrees  diameter  north 
and  south,  and  ten  degrees  east  and  west ;  and  found 
ourselves  in  May,  1844,  on  the  same  sheet  of  water 
which  we  had  left  in  September,  1843.  The  Utah 
is  the  southern  limb  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake ;  and  thus 
we  had  seen  that  remarkable  sheet  of  water  both  at 
its  northern  and  southern  extremity,  and  were  able 
to  fix  its  position  at  these  two  points.  The  circuit 
which  we  had  made,  and  which  had  cost  us  eight 
months  of  time,  and  31,500  miles  of  travelling,  had 
given  us  a  view  of  Oregon  and  of  North  Carolina 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
of  the  two  principal  streams  which  form  bays  or  har- 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  131 

bors  on  the  coast  of  that  sea.  Having  completed 
this  circuit,  and  being  now  about  to  turn  the  back 
upon  the  Pacific  slope  of  our  continent,  and  to  re- 
cross  the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  is  natural  to  look  back 
upon  our  footsteps,  and  take  some  brief  view  of  the 
leading  features  and  general  structure  of  the  coun- 
try we  had  traversed.  These  are  peculiar  and  strik- 
ing, and  differ  essentially  from  the  Atlantic  side  of 
our  country.  The  mountains  all  are  higher,  more 
numerous,  and  more  distinctly  defined  in  their  ranges 
and  directions ;  and,  what  is  so  contrary  to  the  nat- 
ural order  of  such  formations,  one  of  these  ranges, 
which  is  near  the  coast,  (the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
Coast  Range,)  presents  higher  elevations  and  peaks 
than  any  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains themselves.  In  our  eight  months'  circuit,  we 
were  never  out  of  sight  of  snow;  and  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  where  we  crossed  it,  was  near  2,000  feet 
higher  than  the  South  Pass  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
In  height,  these  mountains  greatly  exceed  those  of 
the  Atlantic  side,  constantly  presenting  peaks  which 
enter  the  region  of  eternal  snow ;  and  some  of  them 
volcanic,  and  in  a  frequent  state  of  activity.  They 
are  seen  at  great  distances  and  guide  the  traveller  in 
his  courses. 

"  The  course  and  elevation  of  these  ranges  give 
direction  to  the  rivers,  and  character  to  the  coast. 
No  great  river  does,  or  can,  take  its  rise  below  the 
Cascade  and  Sierra  Nevada  Range;  the  distance  to 
the  sea  is  too  short  to  admit  of  it.  The  rivers  of  the 
San  Francisco  Bay,  which  are  the  largest  after  the 
Columbia,  are  local  to  that  bay,  and  lateral  to  the 


132  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

coast,  having  their  sources  about  on  a  line  with  the 
Dalles  of  the  Columbia,  and  running  each  in  the 
valley  of  its  own,  between  the  Coast  Range  and  the 
Cascade  and  Sierra  Nevada  Range.  The  Columbia 
is  the  only  river  which  traverses  the  whole  breadth 
of  the  country,  breaking  through  all  the  ranges,  and 
entering  the  sea.  Drawing  its  waters  from  a  sec- 
tion of  ten  degrees  of  latitude  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, which  are  collected  into  one  stream  by  three 
main  forks,  (Lewis's,  Clark's,  and  the  North  Fork,) 
near  the  centre  of  the  Oregon  valley,  this  great  river 
thence  proceeds  by  a  single  channel  to  the  sea,  while 
its  three  forks  lead  each  to  a  pass  in  the  mountains, 
which  opens  the  way  into  the  interior  of  the  conti- 
nent. This  fact  in  relation  to  the  rivers  of  this  re- 
gion gives  an  immense  value  to  the  Columbia.  Its 
mouth  is  the  only  inlet  or  outlet  to  and  from  the  sea ; 
its  three  forks  lead  to  the  passes  in  the  mountains ;  it 
is,  therefore,  the  only  line  of  communication  between 
the  Pacific  and  the  interior  of  North  America ;  and  all 
operations  of  war  or  commerce,  of  national  or  social 
intercourse,  must  be  conducted  upon  it.  This  gives 
it  a  value  beyond  estimation,  and  would  involve 
irreparable  injury  if  lost.  In  this  unity  and  concen- 
tration of  its  waters,  the  Pacific  side  of  our  continent 
differs  entirely  from  the  Atlantic  side,  where  the 
waters  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  are  dispersed 
into  many  rivers.,  having  their  different  entrances 
into  the  sea,  and  opening  many  lines  of  communi- 
cation with  the  interior. 

"  The  Pacific  coast  is  equally  different  from  that 
of  the  Atlantic.     The  coast  of  the  Atlantic  is  low 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  133 

and  open,  indented  with  numerous  bays,  sounds,  and 
river  estuaries,  accessible  everywhere,  and  opening 
by  many  channels  into  the  heart  of  the  country. 
The  Pacific  coast,  on  the  contrary,  is  high  and  com- 
pact, with  few  bays,  and  but  one  that  opens  into 
the  heart  of  the  country.  The  immediate  coast  is 
what  the  seamen  call  iron  bound.  A  little  within, 
it  is  skirted  by  two  successive  ranges  of  mountains, 
standing  as  ramparts  between  the  sea  and  the  in- 
terior country;  and  to  get  through  which,  there  is 
but  one  gate,  and  that  narrow  and  easily  defended. 
This  structure  of  the  coast,  backed  by  these  two 
ranges  of  mountains,  with  its  concentration  and 
unity  of  waters,  gives  to  the  country  an  immense 
military  strength,  and  will  probably  render  Oregon 
the  most  impregnable  country  in  the  world. 

"  Differing  so  much  from  the  Atlantic  side  of  our 
continent,  in  coast,  mountains,  and  rivers,  the  Pacific 
side  differs  from  it  in  another  most  rare  and  singular 
feature — that  of  the  Great  interior  Basin,  of  which 
I  have  so  often  spoken,  and  the  whole  form  and 
character  of  which  I  was  so  anxious  to  ascertain. 
Its  existence  is  vouched  for  by  such  of  the  American 
traders  and  hunters  as  have  some  knowledge  of  that 
region;  the  structure  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  range 
of  mountains  requires  it  to  be  there;  and  my  own 
observations  confirm  it.  Mr.  Joseph  Walker,  who 
is  so  well  acquainted  in  those  parts,  informed  me 
that,  from  the  Great  Salt  Lake  west,  there  was  a 
succession  of  lakes  and  rivers  which  have  no  outlet 
to  the  sea,  nor  any  connection  with  the  Columbia, 
or  with  the  Colorado  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  He 


134  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

describes  some  of  these  lakes  as  being  large,  with 
numerous  streams,  and  even  considerable  rivers,  fall- 
ing into  them.  In  fact,  all  concur  in  the  general 
report  of  these  interior  rivers  and  lakes;  and,  for 
want  of  understanding  the  force  and  power  of 
evaporation,  which  so  soon  establishes  an  equilib- 
rium between  the  loss  and  supply  of  waters,  the 
fable  of  whirlpools  and  subterraneous  outlets  has 
gained  belief  as  the  only  imaginable  way  of  carrying 
off  the  waters  which  have  no  visible  discharge.  The 
structure  of  the  country  would  require  this  forma- 
tion of  interior  lakes;  for  the  waters  which  would 
collect  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  not  being  able  to  cross  this  formidable  bar- 
rier, nor  to  get  to  the  Columbia  or  the  Colorado, 
must  naturally  collect  into  reservoirs,  each  of  which 
would  have  its  little  system  of  streams  and  rivers  to 
supply  it.  This  would  be  the  natural  effect;  and 
what  I  saw  went  to  confirm  it.  The  Great  Salt  Lake 
is  a  formation  of  this  kind,  and  quite  a  large  one; 
and  having  many  streams,  and  one  considerable 
river,  four  or  five  hundred  miles  long,  falling  into 
it.  This  lake  and  river  I  saw  and  examined  myself ; 
and  also  saw  the  Wahsatch  and  Bear  River  Moun- 
tains which  enclose  the  waters  of  the  lake  on  the 
east,  and  constitute,  in  that  quarter,  the  rim  of  the 
Great  Basin.  Afterwards,  along  the  eastern  base 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  where  we  travelled  for  forty- 
two  days,  I  saw  the  line  of  lakes  and  rivers  which 
lie  at  the  foot  of  that  Sierra;  and  which  Sierra  is 
the  western  rim  of  the  Basin.  In  going  down 
Lewis's  Fork  and  the  main  Columbia,  I  crossed  only 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  13$ 

inferior  streams  coming  in  from  the  left,  such  as 
could  draw  their  water  from  a  short  distance  only; 
and  I  often  saw  the  mountains  at  their  heads,  white 
with  snow;  which,  all  accounts  said,  divided  the 
waters  of  the  desert  from  those  of  the  Columbia, 
and  which  could  be  no  other  than  the  range  of  moun- 
tains which  form  the  rim  of  the  Basin  on  its  north- 
ern side.  And  in  returning  from  California  along 
the  Spanish  trail,  as  far  as  the  head  of  the  Santa 
Clara  Fork  of  the  Rio  Virgen,  I  crossed  only  small 
streams  making  their  way  south  to  the  Colorado,  or 
lost  in  sand — as  the  Mo-hah-ve;  while  to  the  left, 
lofty  mountains,  their  summits  white  with  snow, 
were  often  visible,  and  which  must  have  turned 
water  to  the  north  as  well  as  to  the  south,  and  thus 
constituted,  on  this  part,  the  southern  rim  of  the 
Basin.  At  the  head  of  the  Santa  Clara  Fork,  and 
in  the  Vegas  de  Santa  Clara,  we  crossed  the  ridge 
which  parted  the  two  systems  of  waters.  We  en- 
tered the  Basin  at  that  point,  and  have  travelled  in 
it  ever  since,  having  its  southeastern  rim  (the 
Wahsatch  Mountain)  on  the  right,  and  crossing  the 
streams  which  flow  down  into  it.  The  existence  of 
the  Basin  is,  therefore,  an  established  fact  in  my 
mind;  its  extent  and  contents  are  yet  to  be  better 
ascertained.  It  cannot  be  less  than  four  or  five  hun- 
dred miles  each  way,  and  must  lie  principally  in  the 
Alta  California;  the  demarcation  latitude  of  42° 
probably  cutting  a  segment  from  the  north  part  of 
the  rim.  Of  its  interior,  but  little  is  known.  It  is 
called  a  desert,  and,  from  what  I  saw  of  it,  sterility 
may  be  its  prominent  characteristic ;  but  where  there 


136  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

is  so  much  water,  there  must  be  some  oasis.  The 
great  river  and  the  great  lake  reported  may  not  be 
equal  to  the  report;  but  where  there  is  so  much 
snow,  there  must  be  streams ;  and  where  there  is  no 
outlet,  there  must  be  lakes  to  hold  the  accumulated 
waters,  or  sands  to  swallow  them  up.  In  this  east- 
ern part  of  the  basin,  containing  Sevier,  Utah,  and 
the  Great  Salt  lakes,  and  the  rivers  and  creeks  fall- 
ing into  them,  we  know  there  is  good  soil  and  good 
grass,  adapted  to  civilized  settlements.  In  the  west- 
ern part,  on  Salmon-trout  River,  and  some  other 
streams,  the  same  remark  may  be  made. 

Having  examined  the  Three  Parks,  or  coves  in 
the  mountains,  where  the  great  rivers,  the  Platte, 
the  Arkansas,  and  the  Colorado  severally  take  their 
rise,  Mr.  Fremont  continued  his  route  homeward 
with  no  further  noticeable  occurrence,  except  an  oc- 
casional encounter  with  armed  bands  of  Indians, 
who,  always  finding  him  ready  to  fight,  limited  their 
demonstrations  to  mere  preliminary  bravadoes. 
When  within  a  fortnight  of  the  end  of  the  journey, 
the  river  suddenly  overflowed  its  banks  one  night, 
and  nearly  all  the  perishable  collections  that  the  hard 
labor  of  many  months  had  accumulated,  were  de- 
stroyed in  a  moment. 

The  Report  of  Lieutenant  Fremont's  Second  Ex- 
pedition concludes  as  follows : — 

"  Here  ended  our  land  journey;  and  the  day  fol- 
lowing our  arrival,  we  found  ourselves  on  board  a 
steamboat,  rapidly  gliding  down  the  broad  Missouri. 
Our  travel-worn  animals  had  not  been  sold  and  dis- 
persed over  the  country  to  renewed  labor,  but  were 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT        1 37 

placed  at  good  pasturage  on  the  frontier,  and  are 
now  ready  to  do  their  part  in  the  coming  expedition. 

"  On  the  6th  of  August  we  arrived  at  St.  Louis, 
where  the  party  was  finally  disbanded,  a  greater 
number  of  the  men  having  their  homes  in  the 
neighborhood. 

"  Andreas  Fuentes  also  remained  here,  having 
readily  found  employment  for  the  winter,  and  is  one 
of  the  men  engaged  to  accompany  me  the  present 
year. 

"  Pablo  Hernandez  remains  in  the  family  of 
Senator  Benton,  where  he  is  well  taken  care  of,  and 
conciliates  good-will  by  his  docility,  intelligence,  and 
amiability.  General  Almonte,  the  Mexican  Minis- 
ter at  Washington,  to  whom  he  was  of  course  made 
known,  kindly  offered  to  take  charge  of  him,  and  to 
carry  him  back  to  Mexico ;  but  the  boy  preferred  to 
remain  where  he  was  until  he  got  an  education,  for 
which  he  shows  equal  ardor  and  aptitude. 

"  Our  Chinook  Indian  had  his  wish  to  see  the 
whites  fully  gratified.  He  accompanied  me  to 
Washington,  and,  after  remaining  several  months 
at  the  Columbia  College,  was  sent  by  the  Indian  De- 
partment to  Philadelphia,  where,  among  other 
things.,  he  learned  to  read  and  write  well,  and  speak 
the  English  language  with  some  fluency. 

"  He  will  accompany  me  in  a  few  days  to  the 
frontier  of  Missouri,  whence  he  will  be  sent  with 
some  one  of  the  emigrant  companies  to  the  village 
at  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia." 

Appended  to  the  Reports  of  the  First  and  Second 
Expeditions,  as  published  together,  in  1845,  by  order 


138    '  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

of  Congress,  besides  the  usual  scientific  tables,  rec- 
ords, specimens,  and  calculations,  there  is  a  map, 
of  which  the  author  gives  the  following  account,  in 
the  preface : — 

"  This  map  may  have  a  meagre  and  skeleton  ap- 
pearance to  the  general  eye,  but  it  is  expected  to  be 
more  valuable  to  science  on  that  account,  being 
wholly  founded  upon  positive  data  and  actual  opera- 
tions in  the  field.  About  ten  thousand  miles  of  ac- 
tual travelling  and  traversing  in  the  wilderness 
which  lies  between  the  frontiers  of  Missouri  and  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  almost  every  camping  station 
being  the  scene  of  astronomical  or  barometrical  ob- 
servations, furnish  the  materials  out  of  which  this 
map  has  been  constructed.  Nothing  supposititious 
has  been  admitted  upon  it ;  so  that,  connecting  with 
Captain  Wilkes's  survey  of  the  mouth  of  the  Colum- 
bia, and  with  the  authentic  surveys  of  the  State  of 
Missouri,  it  fills  up  the  vast  geographical  chasm  be- 
tween these  two  remote  points,  and  presents  a  con- 
nected and  accurate  view  of  our  continent  from  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"  To  this  geographical  map,  delineating  the  face 
of  the  country  over  which  we  travelled,  there  is 
added  another  in  profile,  showing  the  elevations,  or 
the  rise  and  fall  of  the  country  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Pacific.  East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  two 
of  these  profile  views  are  given, — one  from  St.  Louis 
to  the  South  Pass,  the  other  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Great  Platte  to  the  same  point.  The  latter  is  the 
shortest;  and  following,  as  it  does,  the  regular  de- 
scent of  the  river,  and  being  seven  hundred  miles 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  139 

west  of  the  Mississippi,  it  may  be  that  the  eastern 
terminus  of  this  line  may  furnish  the  point  at  which 
the  steamboat  and  the  steam-car  may  hereafter  meet 
and  exchange  cargoes  in  their  magic  flight  across 
this  continent.  These  profile  views,  following  the 
travelling  routes,  of  course  follow  the  lowest  and 
leyellest  lines,  and  pass  the  mountain  at  the  point  of 
its  greatest  depression ;  but  to  complete  the  view,  and 
to  show  the  highest  points  as  well  as  the  lowest 
levels,  many  lofty  peaks  are  sketched  at  their  proper 
elevations,  towering  many  thousands  of  feet  above 
the  travelling  line..  It  may  here  be  excusable  to 
suggest  that  these  profile  maps  here  exhibited  are, 
perhaps,  the  most  extended  work  of  the  kind  ever 
constructed,  being  from  St.  Louis  (according  to  the 
route  we  travelled)  near  sixteen  hundred  miles  to 
the  South  Pass ;  from  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Platte 
to  the  same  Pass,  about  one  thousand  more  and 
then  another  sixteen  hundred  from  that  Pass  to 
the  tide-water  of  the  Oregon;  in  all,  about  four 
thousand  miles  of  profile  mapping,  founded  upon 
nearly  four  hundred  barometrical  positions,  with 
views  sketched  and  facts  noted  in  the  field  as  we 


CHAPTER  IV 

Third  Expedition. — Arkansas. — Great  Basin. — Hawks  Peak  on 
the  Sierra.— Tlamath  Lake. 

ON  the  2Qth  of  January,  1845,  President  Tyler, 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  conferred  upon  Lieutenant  Fremont 
a  Brevet  commission  of  Captain  in  the  corps  of 
Topographical  Engineers.  He  was  brevetted  to  a 
First  Lieutenancy  and  a  Captaincy,  at  the  same  time. 
For  this  distinguished  compliment  he  was  indebted, 
in  part,  to  the  instrumentality  of  the  commanding 
General  of  the  Army. 

In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  started  on  his  Third 
Expedition.  This  was  his  last  under  the  authority 
of  the  Government.  It  terminated  in  operations 
and  results  so  remote  from  its  design,  as  a  mere  ex- 
ploration, and  led  to  such  extraordinary,  engrossing, 
and  complicated  engagements,  that  the  publication 
of  a  full  report  was  for  the  time  postponed.  The 
two  next  expeditions  were  at  his  own  cost,  and  un- 
connected altogether  with  the  Government. 

He  went  out,  on  the  third  expedition,  by  the 
northern  head-waters  of  the  Arkansas,  then  the 
boundary  line  of  the  country,  to  the  south  side  of 
the  Great  Salt  Lake>,  thence  directly  across  the  cen- 
tral basin,  towards  California,  in  a  route  of  which 

140 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  141 

he  was  the  first  explorer.  Upon  reaching  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  he  concluded  that, 
in  the  worn  and  weakened  condition  of  his  men  and 
animals,  they  would  not  be  able  to  surmount  the  bar- 
rier at  that  point;  and  being  short  of  provisions,  it 
was  necessary  to  get  as  speedily  as  possible  into  the 
country  beyond,  where  supplies  could  be  obtained. 
He  therefore  divided  his  party.  Leaving  all  the 
provisions  with  the  main  body  of  it,  he  directed 
them  to  follow  along  the  eastern  border  of  the 
Sierra,  towards  the  South,  to  a  certain  pass,  which 
he  named ;  while,  with  a  selected  company  of  fifteen 
men,  entirely  unencumbered,  he  would  attempt  to 
scale  the  mountains,  get  provisions  on  the  other  side 
at  Sutter's,  and  go  to  their  relief  on  the  appointed 
route.  The  plan,  so  far  as  his  part  was  concerned, 
entirely  succeeded.  He  got  across  the  mountains, 
with  his  light  party,  in  six  hours,  proceeded  to  Sut- 
ter's, purchased  fifty  cattle,  and  drove  them  down 
the  western  side  of  the  Sierra  to  meet  the  main  body 
of  his  people.  Unfortunately  they  mistook  the  pass, 
misled  by  a  similarity  of  name ;  wandered  far  on  to 
a  distant  pass,  towards  the  south,  and  at  last  found 
their  way  through.  Fremont  remained  waiting  and 
roaming  for  them,  in  the  wild  and  mountainous 
country  along  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra,  hav- 
ing frequent  hard  fights  with  the  savage  tribes  that 
infested  them,  until  his  cattle  were  wasted  by  ex- 
haustion, and  destroyed  by  injuries  among  the  sharp 
rocks.  Finally,  he  abandoned  the  search,  and  going 
down  to  the  California  settlements,  learned  that  his 
company,  after  many  sufferings,  had  come  into  the 


142  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

country  by  a  different  route  from  that  directed  by 
him,  quite  remote  from  the  point  where  he  had  ex- 
pected to  meet  them.  They  had  been  placed  under 
the  command  of  Joseph  Walker,  an  experienced 
mountaineer  and  excellent  traveller,  whose  name  is 
given  to  one  of  the  principal  passes  through  the 
mountain  ranges.  The  mistake  of  the  route  was  no 
fault  of  his.  It  seems  that  there  are  two  rivers  of 
the  same  name.  Fremont  knew  of  one,  Walker  of 
the  other;  and  neither  knew  that  there  was  more 
than  one.  Orders  were  sent  to  Walker  to  go,  with 
his  party,  to  San  Jose,  and  there  remain  until  Fre- 
mont should  join  them.  Wishing  to  avoid  all  occa- 
sion of  ill-will,  or  suspicion,  on  the  part  of  the  Mexi- 
can authorities  in  California,  he  went  alone  to  Mon- 
terey, and  made  himself  known  to  Mr.  Larkin,  the 
consul  of  the  United  States  in  that  city,  and,  accom- 
panied by  him,  waited  upon  Alvarado,  the  Alcalde, 
Manuel  Castro,  the  Prefecto,  and  Carlos  Castro,  the 
commanding  general,  who  constituted  the  leading 
authorities  of  the  country.  He  communicated  his 
object  in  coming  into  California,  stating  that  he  had 
not  a  single  soldier  of  the  United  States  army  in  his 
party,  and  that  his  sole  purpose  was  a  scientific  ex- 
ploration of  the  Continent,  with  a  view  of  ascertain- 
ing the  best  mode  of  establishing  a  commercial  inter- 
course between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  regions.  He 
requested  permission  to  winter  in  the  country,  re- 
cruit his  company,  and  continue  his  explorations. 
His  request  was  granted.  He  then  repaired  to  his 
party  at  San  Jose,  where  they  remained  several 
weeks. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  143 

Shortly  after  this  interview  with  General  Castro, 
orders  were  received  by  that  officer  to  drive  Captain 
Fremont  out  of  the  country,  or  send  him  prisoner  to 
the  City  of  Mexico.  Of  these  orders  Fremont  had 
no  knowledge  until  a  long  time  afterwards.  The 
first  intimation  he  had  of  any  unfriendly  feeling  to- 
wards him,  was  in  certain  movements,  at  various 
points,  which  seemed  to  have  a  threatening  aspect, 
as  if  aimed  at  him.  But  the  interview  with  Castro, 
and  the  other  high  officers  at  headquarters,  was  so 
recent,  and  had  been  so  friendly  and  cordial,  that 
he  could  hardly  believe  that  the  appearances  that  had 
attracted  his  attention  were  meant  against  him.  At 
length,  however,  on  the  3d  of  March,  when  within 
about  twenty-five  miles  of  Monterey,  he  was  met  by 
an  officer,  who  had  a  detachment  of  eighty  dragoons 
in  his  rear  to  enforce  his  message,  with  a  letter  from 
Castro,  ordering  him,  without  any  explanation,  per- 
emptorily, out  of  the  country.  The  communication 
was  in  such  a  tone,  so  entirely  in  violation  of  the  ar- 
rangement made  at  Monterey,  on  his  visit  to  the 
authorities  of  the  country,  in  that  place;  and  the 
demonstrations  were,  all  around,  of  such  a  belliger- 
ent look  and  character,  that  Captain  Fremont  felt 
no  disposition  to  pay  a  hurried  obedience  to  the  or- 
der. He  marched,  with  his  party,  directly  to  a  lofty 
hill,  called  Hawks  Peak.  It  commanded  a  view,  to 
a  great  extent,  all  around  the  country.  In  that  pure 
atmosphere,  distant  objects  were  clearly  seen,  and 
brought  minutely  to  view  by  the  aid  of  spy-glasses. 
It  was  evident  that  preparations  were  actively  going 
OH  to  attack  him.  The  enemy  was  seen  scaling  his 


144  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

guns,  and  gathering  Californians  and  Indians  into 
his  ranks.  Captain  Fremont  at  once  proceeded  to 
fortify  his  position,  and  erected  a  staff  on  its  highest 
point,  forty  feet  in  length,  and  unfurled  from  it  the 
flag  of  his  country.  His  own  spirit  pervaded  his 
whole  party.  Although  few  in  number,  and  far 
away  from  aid,  in  the  heart  of  a  foreign  country, 
thus  suddenly  assuming  a  hostile  attitude  towards 
them,  they  were  determined  to  defend  themselves 
against  any  assault,  by  however  great  a  force  it 
might  be  made,  and  were  thoroughly  prepared  to 
meet  the  last  extremity. 

On  the  9th,  Consul  Larkin  succeeded  in  effecting 
a  communication  with  Fremont,  informing  him  of 
the  preparations  going  on  to  attack  him.  The  fol- 
lowing note,  in  pencil,  was  sent  in  reply : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  this  moment  received  your 
letters,  and,  without  waiting  to  read  them,  acknowl- 
edge the  receipt,  which  the  courier  requires  imme- 
diately. I  am  making  myself  as  strong  as  possible, 
in  the  intention  that  if  we  are  unjustly  attacked,  we 
will  fight  to  extremity  and  refuse  quarter,  trusting 
to  our  country  to  avenge  our  death.  No  one  has 
reached  our  camp,  and,  from  the  heights,  we  are  able 
to  see  troops  (with  the  glass)  mustering  at  St. 
John's,  and  preparing  cannon.  I  thank  you  for  your 
kindness  and  good  wishes,  and  would  write  more 
at  length  as  to  my  intentions  did  I  not  fear  that  my 
letter  would  be  intercepted.  We  have,  in  nowise, 
done  wrong  to  the  people  or  the  authorities  of  the 
country;  and,  if  we  are  hemmed  in  and  assaulted 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  145 

here,  we  will  die,  every  man  of  us,  under  the  flag  of 
our  country. 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  C.  FREMONT. 

P.  S.  I  am  encamped  on  the  top  of  the  Sierra,  at 
the  headwaters  of  a  stream  which  strikes  the  road 
to  Monterey  at  the  house  of  Don  Joaquin  Gomes. 

Thomas  O.  Larkin,  Esq.,  Consul  for  the  United 
States  at  Monterey." 

The  Delawares  kept  an  unfailing  watch  from 
every  peak,  or  lofty  crag;  and  with  the  instinctive 
and  long-practiced  vigilance,  clear  sightedness,  and 
quick  discernment  of  their  race,  gave  notice  of  every 
movement  in  all  directions.  One  morning  at  sun- 
rise everything  indicated  a  near  impending  assault, 
by  overwhelming  numbers.  Fremont  addressed  his 
people,  who  assured  him  with  one  voice  that  they 
were  ready  to  meet  death  with  him  on  the  spot  rather 
than  surrender.  The  Delawares  prepared  them- 
selves at  once  for  their  last  battle.  They  arrayed 
themselves  in  their  full  finery,  put  their  red  war 
paint  on  themselves  and  on  their  horses,  and  with  all 
their  weapons  in  order,  made  the  circuit  of  the  camp 
singing  their  war  and  death  songs,  their  chargers 
prancing,  in  apparent  sympathy  with  their  riders  in 
the  solemn  but  exultant  enthusiasm  of  the  occasion. 
But  the  enemy  shrunk  from  the  crisis.  On  another 
occasion,  they  were  discovered  approaching  by 
moonlight.  Fremont  selected  twenty-five  of  his 
men,  and  went  out  to  meet  them.  They  fled  in  sur- 
prise as  he  dashed  down  upon  them.  At  another 
A.  B.,  VOL.  v.  — 10 


146  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

time,,  he  went  out  during  the  day  with  a  select  band 
to  reconnoitre,  and  ascertain  more  particularly  the 
intentions  of  the  enemy.  After  several  days,  as 
Castro  ventured  upon  no  attack,  he  concluded  to 
move  from  his  position  at  Hawks  Peak.  His  people 
urged  him  strenuously  to  allow  them  to  make  a  night 
assault  upon  Castro's  camp,  but  he  refused  to  gratify 
them.  He  was  determined  to  originate  no  hostile 
movement,  but  confine  himself  wholly  to  the  resist- 
ance of  violence,  and  to  such  a  course  as  would  show 
that  his  only  object  was  to  have  it  understood  that 
he  was  not  to  be  driven  out  of  the  country  by  any 
such  summary  and  intimidating  methods  as  Castro 
had  adopted.  He  therefore  moved  down  into  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley,  and  by  easy  and  deliberate 
marches  turned  up  through  North  California  to- 
wards Oregon  and  the  Columbia  River. 

Colonel  Benton,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  char- 
acterized the  course  of  Fremont,  in  hoisting  the  flag 
of  his  country  at  Hawks  Peak,  in  well-deserved  and 
well-expressed  language : — 

"  Such  was  the  reason  for  raising  the  flag.  It 
was  raised  at  the  approach  of  danger;  it  was  taken 
down  when  danger  disappeared.  It  was  well  and 
nobly  done,  and  worthy  of  our  admiration.  Sixty 
of  our  countrymen,  three  thousand  miles  from  home, 
in  sight  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  appealing  to  the  flag 
of  their  country,  unfurling  it  on  the  mountain-top, 
and  determined  to  die  under  it,  before  they  would 
submit  to  unjust  aggression." 

At  the  close  of  Fremont's  second  expedition,  Car- 
son, in  taking  leave  of  him,  promised,  in  case  a  third 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  147 

expedition  were  organized,  to  join  it.  In  the  mean- 
time he  had  settled  near  Taos.  On  reaching  Bent's 
Fort,  when  going  out  on  his  third  expedition,  Fre- 
mont sent  a  message  reminding  him  of  his  promise, 
and  saying  that  he  would  wait  there  for  him.  Al- 
though Carson  had  purchased  a  farm,  intending 
thenceforth  to  lead  a  quiet  life — so  sacred  did  he 
regard  his  promise,  and  so  strong  was  his  affection 
for  his  old  commander — he  instantly  sold  his  house 
and  land,  at  a  very  considerable  sacrifice,  and  joined 
the  expedition  in  four  days  after  receiving  Fremont's 
note.  He  put  his  family  under  the  care  of  Governor 
Bent  during  his  absence.  Their  wives  were  sisters. 
When  afterwards  the  Indians  fell  upon  Taos,  mas- 
sacring, among  others,  Governor  Bent,  Mrs.  Carson 
saved  her  life  by  flight. 

Carson's  services  were  as  usual  invaluable 
throughout  the  third  expedition,  and  signal  on  many 
occasions.  In  withdrawing  from  California,  Fre- 
mont had  reached  the  northern  end  of  the  Tlamath 
Lake  in  Oregon,  and  was  about  exploring  a  new 
route  into  the  Willhameth  Valley.  The  Tlamath  In- 
dians are  brave  and  warlike.  They  are  rendered 
particularly  formidable  by  their  iron  arrow-heads 
and  axes,  procured  from  the  British  trading  forts 
north  of  the  Columbia  River.  Their  barbed  arrows 
cannot  be  extracted  but  by  cutting  the  flesh. 

On  the  night  of  the  8th  of  May,  a  couple  of 
horsemen,  who  did  not  have  the  appearance  of  In- 
dians, were  seen  approaching  in  that  out  of  the  way 
and  far-off  place.  They  proved  to  be  two  of  Fre- 
mont's companions,  in  his  previous  explorations, 


148  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

sent  on  by  that  dangerous  route  to  overtake  him, 
with  information  that  Mr.  Gillespie,  with  three  men, 
was  behind,  with  despatches  to  him  from  the  Gov- 
ernment, that  he  had  been  a  long  time  on  the  route 
searching  for  him,  had  endured  much  suffering,  and 
encountered  many  perils  by  the  way.  Fremont  the 
next  morning  took  nine  men,  and  making  all  haste 
to  reach  Gillespie,  so  as  to  protect  his  small  party 
from  the  Indians,  rode  sixty  miles  that  day,  meeting 
him  at  its  close.  The  story  of  that  night  was  nar- 
rated by  Carson  some  years  afterwards. 


CHAPTER  V 

North  California. — Conquest  of  California. — Wah-lah-wah-lah 
Indians. — Insurrection. — Insurgents  Surrender  to  Fremont. 
— Capitulation  of  Cowenga. 

MR.  GILLESPIE  delivered  to  Captain  Fremont  a 
brief  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Buchanan, 
Secretary  of  State.  It  was  not  deemed  safe  to  com- 
mit to  writing  the  communication  he  had  been  sent 
to  make,  and  for  which  he  had  sought  Fremont  at 
such  hazard,  and  at  so  remote  a  point.  It  was  en- 
trusted to  his  memory,  to  be  conveyed  by  word  of 
mouth,  and  was  in  substance  to  this  effect :  That  a 
rupture  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  being 
not  improbable,  it  was  the  wish  of  the  Government 
that  Fremont  should  keep  himself  in  a  favorable 
position  to  watch  the  state  of  things  in  California, 
conciliate  the  feelings  of  its  people,  encourage  a 
friendship  with  the  United  States,  and  do  what  he 
could  to  prevent  that  country  falling  into  the  hands 
of  Great  Britain.  In  obedience  to  this  suggestion, 
he  began  to  retrace  his  steps  into  California. 

When  Captain  Fremont  came  into  North  Califor- 
nia, he  found  the  whole  country  in  a  state  of  great 
alarm.  The  entire  population  of  California  at  that 
period,  exclusive  of  Indians,  was  estimated  at  about 
ten  thousand,  one-fifth  of  whom  were  foreigners, 
chiefly  from  the  United  States.  General  Castro  was 

149 


I5O  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

the  military  commander,  and  was  actively  exerting 
his  influence  to  aggravate  the  jealousy  of  the  native 
Californians  towards  foreign  residents.  He  had  is- 
sued a  proclamation  aimed  at  Americans  particular- 
ly, and  requiring  them  to  leave  the  country.  It  be- 
came evident  that  measures  had  been  for  some  time 
secretly  concerting  among  many  of  the  leading  Span- 
ish Californians,  to  transfer  the  country  to  the  pro- 
tection and  control  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  drive  out 
or  exterminate  all  American  settlers;  (that  is,  as  the 
word  is  universally  understood,  all  settlers  from  the 
United  States;)  to  expel  them  utterly,  with  their 
families;  and  to  take  possession  of  their  lands.  In 
order  to  accomplish  this  more  effectually,  the  Indian 
tribes  were  made  to  participate  in  the  conspiracy,  and 
instigated  to  burn  and  destroy  the  crops  and  houses 
of  Americans.  This  condition  of  things,  of  course, 
spread  the  utmost  alarm  among  the  intended  victims 
of  the  plot.  When  Captain  Fremont  came  down  into 
the  Sacramento  Valley,  men,  women,  and  children 
flocked  to  him  for  protection,  and  appealed  to  him 
as  a  countryman.  His  means  of  information  were 
very  extensive  and  reliable.  There  were  many 
American  settlers,  who  had  been  several  years  in  the 
country,  intermarrying  in  some  cases  with  California 
families,  men  of  education  and  large  property,  like 
Dr.  Marsh,  and  all  of  them  more  or  less  able  to  dis- 
cover what  was  going  on,  not  merely  among  the  peo- 
ple, but  in  the  consultations  of  the  authorities.  With 
them  Captain  Fremont  kept  up  constant  communica- 
tion. 

From  these  sources  of  information  he  obtained 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT 

intimations  of  a  scheme,  the  authentic  and  official 
records  of  which  he  afterwards  found  in  the  archives 
of  California,  while  occupying  the  government  house 
in  Los  Angeles. 

"  During  our  stay  in  Monterey,"  says  Lieutenant 
Walpole,  "  Captain  Fremont  and  his  party  arrived. 
They  naturally  excited  curiosity.  Here  were  true 
trappers,  the  class  that  produced  the  heroes  of  Feni- 
more  Cooper's  best  works.  These  men  had  passed 
years  in  the  wilds,  living  upon  their  own  resources ; 
they  were  a  curious  set.  A  vast  cloud  of  dust  ap- 
peared first,  and  thence  in  long  file  emerged  this  wild- 
est wild  party.  Fremont  rode  ahead,  a  spare,  active- 
looking  man,  with  such  an  eye !  He  was  dressed  in 
a  blouse  and  leggings,  and  wore  a  felt  hat.  After 
him  came  five  Delaware  Indians,  who  were  his  body- 
guard, and  have  been  with  him  through  all  his  wan- 
derings; they  had  charge  of  two  baggage  horses. 
The  rest,  many  of  them  blacker  than  the  Indians, 
rode  two  and  two,  the  rifle  held  by  one  hand  across 
the  pommel  of  the  saddle.  Thirty-nine  of  them  are 
his  regular  men,  the  rest  are  loafers  picked  up  lately ; 
his  original  men  are  principally  backwoodsmen,  from 
the  State  of  Tennessee  and  the  banks  of  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Missouri.  He  has  one  or  two  with 
him  who  enjoy  a  high  reputation  in  the  prairies.  Kit 
Carson  is  as  well  known  there  as  the  duke  is  in 
Europe.  The  dress  of  these  men  was  principally  a 
long  loose  coat  of  deer  skin,  tied  with  thongs  in 
front;  trowsers  of  the  same,  of  their  own  manufac- 
ture, which,  when  wet  through,  they  take  off,  scrape 
well  inside  with  a  knife,  and  put  on  as  soon  as  dry ; 


152  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  saddles  were  of  various  fashions,  though  these 
and  a  large  drove  of  horses,  and  a  brass  field-gun, 
were  things  they  had  picked  up  about  California. 
They  are  allowed  no  liquor,  tea  and  sugar  only ;  this, 
no  doubt,  has  much  to  do  with  their  good  conduct; 
and  the  discipline,  too,  is  very  strict.  They  were 
marched  up  to  an  open  space  on  the  hills  near  the 
town,  under  some  large  firs,  and  there  took  up  their 
quarters,  in  messes  of  six  or  seven,  in  the  open  air. 
The  Indians  lay  beside  their  leader.  One  man,  a 
doctor,  six  feet  six  high,  was  an  odd-looking  fellow. 
May  I  never  come  under  his  hands ! 

"  In  justice  to  the  Americans  I  must  say,  they 
seemed  to  treat  the  natives  well,  and  their  authority 
extended  every  protection  to  them." 

A  lieutenant  in  the  American  Navy,  (now  a  com- 
mander,) George  Minor,  under  examination  by  the 
military  committee  of  the  United  States  Senate,  de- 
scribed the  impression  made  upon  him,  by  Fremont's 
entrance  into  Monterey,  in  these  words,  taken  from 
his  deposition: — 

"  The  undersigned  was  on  duty  on  shore  when 
Captain  Fremont  arrived  with  his  force  at  Monterey, 
from  the  North.  The  undersigned  believes  that  the 
appearance  of  this  body  of  men,  and  the  well-known 
character  of  its  commander,  not  only  made  a  strong 
impression  upon  the  British  Admiral  and  officers, 
but  an  equally  impressive  and  more  happy  one  upon 
those  of  the  American  Navy  then  in  Monterey.  For 
himself,  the  undersigned  can  say,  that  after  he  had 
seen  Captain  Fremont's  command,  all  his  doubts 
about  the  conquest  of  California  were  removed." 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  153 

The  hoisting  of  our  flag  at  Monterey,  on  the  7th  of 
July,  1846,  saved  California  and  the  Pacific  coast  to 
the  United  States,  and  prevented  a  disastrous  col- 
lision between  this  country  and  Great  Britain.  That 
flag  was  hoisted  in  consequence  of  Fremont's  gallant 
achievements  in  North  California.  He  is  therefore 
entitled  to  the  glory  of  having  saved  California  from 
falling  into  the  hands  of  a  foreign  power,  and  se- 
cured the  extension  of  our  Union  over  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  continent,  from  shore  to  shore. 

Immediately  after  the  events  just  related,  Com- 
modore Sloat  sailed  for  the  United  States,  leaving 
Commodore  Stockton,  who  had  arrived  a  few  days 
before,  in  command.  Fremont,  with  his  volunteers, 
embarked  on  board  the  sloop-of-war  Cyane  for  San 
Diego.  Landing  there,  he  marched  to  Los  Angeles, 
the  then  capital  of  California.  Commodore  Stock- 
ton, having  landed  his  force  at  San  Pedro,  reached 
Los  Angeles  first,  and,  on  the  I7th  of  August,  com- 
pleted and  proclaimed  the  conquest  of  California. 
Castro  fled  to  Sonora. 

Fremont  continued  to  act  under  Commodore 
Stockton,  receiving  various  successive  appointments 
from  him,  as  major  of  the  California  battalion,  after- 
wards military  commandant  of  California,  and  final- 
ly governor  and  commander-in-chief  in  California. 
Early  in  September,  Captain  Fremont  left  Los  An- 
geles. A  few  weeks  afterwards,  an  extensive  insur- 
rection broke  out  in  southern  California.  Fremont, 
who  had  returned  to  the  Sacramento  country,  imme- 
diately set  about  raising  a  battalion  among  the  set- 
tlers there  to  aid  in  its  suppression. 


154  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

At  this  time  an  additional  panic  arose  from  the 
report  of  an  Indian  invasion  from  the  north.  It  was 
said  that  1,000  Wah-lah-wah-lahs  were  advancing 
to  attack  Slitter's  Fort.  The  whole  country  was 
aroused,  and  every  element  of  disposable  force  was 
drawn  out  to  meet  the  threatened  danger.  Fremont 
had  already  assembled  a  body  of  several  hundred 
western  riflemen  towards  the  completion  of  his  Cali- 
fornia battalion,  when  the  news  reached  him.  He 
was  quite  confident  that  the  story  was  exaggerated ; 
but  it  was  necessary  to  restore  security  in  the  north- 
ern frontier.  He  took  three  tried  men  with  him,  and 
went  directly  to  meet  the  Wah-lah-wah-fehs.  He 
found  them  much  less  numerous  than  had  been  rep- 
resented, but  assembled  in  considerable  force,  and  in 
a  state  of  the  greatest  exasperation.  He  went,  with 
his  three  men,  directly  into  their  midst.  One  of  them 
knew  him,  and  all  gathered  round  him  to  tell  their 
wrongs.  They  had  been  robbed,  and  one  of  their 
best  young  men  killed,  by  the  whites.  He  promised 
them  redress  if  they  would  follow  his  advice.  He 
told  them  that  he  was  going  to  the  south,  and  could 
not  attend  to  them  until  the  spring,  but  that  he  would 
then  meet  them,  at  a  place  agreed  upon,  and  have 
justice  done  them.  He  advised  them,  in  the  mean- 
time, to  go  off  on  a  winter  hunt,  said  that  he  would 
let  one  of  his  own  men  go  with  them,  to  hold  over 
them  the  United  States  flag,  and  that  whoever  struck 
that  flag  struck  him.  They  were  perfectly  subdued 
by  his  talk,  and  manner  of  treating  them:  at  once 
gave  up  their  plan  of  attacking  the  whites ;  and 
agreed  to  go  off  on  a  winter  hunt.  They  gave  him 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  I$5 

ten  of  their  young  braves  to  go  with  him,  who 
proved  themselves  among  the  best  in  his  battalion. 
In  the  Spring  of  the  year,  he  met  them,  although  at 
a  great  inconvenience,  and  gave  them  of  his  own 
horses  until  they  were  satisfied.  In  this  way  he  not 
only  stopped  an  Indian  war,  and  recruited  his  own 
ranks,  but  he  taught  a  lesson  which  it  would  be  well 
to  have  inculcated  upon  those  who  undertake  to 
grapple  with  our  Indian  difficulties,  and  enforced 
upon  the  administration  of  that  department  of  our 
government. 

On  the  1 2th  of  October,  Fremont,  with  his  bat- 
talion, arrived  at  San  Francisco.  He  there  embarked 
his  command,  in  the  ship  Sterling,  to  go  down  the 
coast  to  Santa  Barbara.  He  left  his  horses,  intend- 
ing to  remount  his  men,  in  the  south.  Two  days  out, 
he  fell  in  with  the  Vandalia,  a  merchant  ship,  and 
learned  that  no  horses  could  be  had  below,  the  Cali- 
fornians  having  driven  their  entire  stock  into  the  in- 
terior. He  immediately  determined  to  return  to 
Monterey  and  make  the  march  over  land.  While  in 
Monterey,  on  the  27th  of  October,  he  learned  that  he 
had  been  appointed  a  lieutenant-colonel  of  a  rifle 
regiment  in  the  army  of  the  United  States.  His 
commission  was  dated  May  29,  and  signed  by  Presi- 
dent Polk. 

Having  despatched  a  courier  to  the  Sacramento 
Valley,  to  fill  up  his  troops  and  obtain  additional 
supplies,  he  made  all  the  necessary  preparations  for 
an  arduous  winter  march.  In  the  mean  time  the  in- 
surrection had  assumed  a  formidable  character.  A 
party  of  four  hundred  American  sailors  and  marines, 


156  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

on  their  way  from  San  Pedro  to  Los  Angeles,  were 
beaten  back,  with  the  loss  of  six  men  killed,  by  a 
strong  force  of  Calif ornians.  Los  Angeles  and 
Santa  Barbara  were  in  their  hands.  Larkin,  the 
United  States  consul,  had  been  taken  prisoner.  Cap- 
tains Burroughs  and  Foster  and  Mr.  Eames,  were 
killed  in  a  severe  skirmish  while  escorting  a  lot  of 
horses  to  Fremont's  camp.  Captain  Burroughs,  on 
this  occasion,  rode  Fremont's  horse,  Sacramento. 
When  the  captain  fell,  he  was  in  front  of  his  men. 
The  sagacious  animal  seemed  to  comprehend  fully 
the  relations  of  the  fight.  Immediately,  upon  losing 
his  rider,  he  dashed  back  to  his  own  party,  wheeled 
into  the  ranks,  and  was  impatient  to  bear  another 
hero  against  the  foe.  On  this  occasion,  one  of  the 
Wah-lah-wah-lah  Indians  performed  a  remarkable 
feat  of  heroism.  He  volunteered  to  carry  intelligence 
to  Colonel  Fremont  of  the  attack.  He  was  closely 
pursued  by  the  enemy,  one  of  whom,  having  nearly 
overtaken  him,  drove  his  lance  at  him;  in  trying  to 
parry  it,  he  received  it  through  his  hand;  with  the 
other  hand  he  grasped  his  tomahawk,  and  in  an  in- 
stant clave  the  skull  of  his  pursuer.  Two  others 
overtook  him  and  shared  the  same  fate  in  succession. 
He  rode  on  until  his  horse  gave  out,  and  then 
reached  Monterey  on  foot. 

Colonel  Fremont  immediately  started.  His  force 
consisted  of  four  hundred  mounted  men,  and  three 
pieces  of  artillery  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
McLane  of  the  navy.  A  large  drove  of  beef  cattle 
followed  to  serve  as  provisions  on  the  march.  At 
San  Juan,  on  the  29th  of  November,  a  party  of  emi- 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  1 57 

grants,  who  had  recently  crossed  the  country,  made 
a  most  valuable  accession  to  His  force,  comprising 
many  men  of  superior  intelligence  and  standing,  and 
contributing  essentially  to  the  energy  of  the  expedi- 
tion. One  of  them,  Edwin  Bryant,  who,  in  1849, 
published  a  work  on  California,  served  as  a  first  lieu- 
tenant of  one  of  the  companies,  and  became  alcalde 
of  San  Francisco. 

After  marching  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  they 
surprised,  in  .a  night  of  pitchy  darkness,  San  Louis 
Obispo,  the  seat  of  a  district  commandant,  without 
firing  a  gun,  and  captured  Don  Jesus  Pico,  the  head 
of  the  insurrection  in  that  quarter.  Two  days  after- 
wards, December  i6th,  Pico  was  tried  by  a  court- 
martial,  and  condemned  to  death,  for  breaking  his 
parole.  The  next  day,  about  an  hour  before  noon,  at 
which  time  the  execution  was  to  take  place,  a  pro- 
cession of  females,  headed  by  a  lady  of  fine  appear- 
ance, proceeded  to  the  quarters  of  Colonel  Fremont, 
and  with  all  the  fervor  natural  to  a  mother,  wife, 
children,  and  near  relatives,  under  such  circum- 
stances, implored  for  mercy,  and,  prostrate  and  in 
tears,  begged  for  the  life  of  the  convict.  Their  sup- 
plication was  granted.  Pico,  who  had  borne  himself 
with  perfect  coolness  and  firmness  at  the  trial,  and 
had  prepared  to  die  with  "  the  solemn  dignity  of  a 
Spaniard,"  when  brought  in  and  informed  of  his 
pardon,  flung  himself  with  unrestrained  emotion  be- 
fore Colonel  Fremont,  clasped  his  knees,  swore 
eternal  fidelity,  and  begged  the  privilege  of  fighting 
and  dying  for  him. 

His  subsequent  conduct  proved  him  faithful  to  his 


I $8  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

pledge.  Some  have  blamed  Colonel  Fremont  for  his 
clemency  on  this  occasion;  but  he  knew  better  than 
they  know  the  great  and  deep  laws  of  our  nature. 
He  knew  well  the  people  of  California,  who  were 
more  truly  subdued  by  that  act  of  mercy,  than  by  all 
the  bloodshed  of  battle,  and  all  the  terrors  of  our 
power. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  the  battalion  entered 
without  resistance  the  town  of  Santa  Barbara,  where 
it  remained  recruiting  until  the  3d  of  January,  1847. 
On  the  i  ith  of  January,  while  pursuing  their  march, 
they  were  met  by  two  Calif ornians,  riding  in  great 
haste,  bare-headed,  who  informed  them  that  the 
American  forces,  under  Commodore  Stockton,  had 
retaken  Los  Angeles,  after  a  victorious  engagement 
with  the  insurgent  forces.  The  enemy's  force  was 
understood  to  be  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  next  day  two 
California  officers  came  into  camp  to  treat  for  peace. 
After  full  consultation,  articles  were  agreed  upon  on 
the  1 3th  of  January,  1847.  They  stipulated  that  all 
Californians  should  deliver  up  their  arms,  return 
peaceably  to  their  homes,  not  take  up  arms  again 
during  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mex- 
ico, and  assist  and  aid  in  keeping  the  country  in  a 
state  of  peace  and  tranquillity.  Any  Californian  or 
citizen  of  Mexico,  who  might  desire  to  do  so,  was  to 
be  permitted  to  leave  the  country,  and  none  be  re- 
quired to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States,  until  a  treaty  of  peace  should  be  signed  and 
made  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico.  The 
articles  of  capitulation  were  signed  by  officers  duly 
commissioned  for  the  purpose,  and  approved  by  "  J. 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  159 

C.  Fremont,  Lieutenant-Colonel  U.  S.  Army,  and 
Military  Commandant  of  California,  and  by  Andres 
Pico,  Commandant  of  Squadron  and  Chief  of  the 
National  Forces  of  California." 

This  was  the  "  Capitulation  of  Cowenga."  It  ter- 
minated the  war  so  far  as  California  was  concerned. 
No  hostile  arm  was  ever  again  lifted,  except  in  the 
ordinary  form  of  local  Indian  outbreaks,  within  the 
limits  of  that  State,  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  States.  It  secured  reconciliation  as  well  as 
peace.  It  is  in  evidence,  on  the  records  of  the  gov- 
ernment, that  the  final  conquest  of  California  could 
not  have  been  accomplished  by  any  forces  then  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  without  the  aid  of  the  California 
battalion ;  and  that,  had  it  not  been  consummated  by 
the  Treaty  of  Cowenga,  a  "  bloody,  vexatious,  and 
predatory  warfare "  would  surely  have  been  pro- 
tracted for  an  indefinite  length  of  time.  The  whole 
western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  would  have 
afforded  safe  retreats,  inaccessible  to  naval  and  even 
regular  military  forces,  from  which  ravaging  parties 
would  have  rushed  down  upon  the  plains,  and  where 
insurrectionary  movements  would  have  been  fo- 
mented perpetually.  Fremont  terrified  the  Calif  or- 
nians  and  the  Indians  by  the  celerity  and  boldness  of 
his  movements,  and  he  conquered  their  hearts  by  the 
good  conduct  of  his  men,  and  the  moderation  and 
clemency  of  his  policy. 

In  a  despatch  from  General  Kearney  to  the  War 
Department  at  Washington,  dated  Ciudad  de  los  An- 
geles, January  14,  1847,  ne  says: — 

ft  This  morning,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Fremont,  of 


l6o  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

the  regiment  of  mounted  riflemen,  reached  here  with 
four  hundred  volunteers  from  the  Sacramento;  the 
enemy  capitulated  with  him  yesterday,  near 
San  Fernando,  agreeing  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
we  have  now  the  prospect  of  having  peace  and  quiet- 
ness in  this  country,  which  I  hope  may  not  be  inter- 
rupted again." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Fourth  Expedition. — A  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

COLONEL  FREMONT'S  Fourth  Expedition  (1848- 
49)  was  undertaken,  mainly,  at  his  own  cost  and 
charges.  Several  public-spirited  and  liberal  indi- 
viduals, belonging  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  advanced 
the  necessary  means,  and  took  the  risk  of  repayment, 
which  was  duly  made.  Among  them,  Col.  Robert 
Campbell  and  Thornton  Grimsley  are  particularly  to 
be  mentioned.  O.  D.  Filley  presented  outright  a 
considerable  part  of  the  camp  equipage.  Doctor 
George  Engleman,  also  of  St.  Louis,  a  gentleman 
of  great  personal  worth  and  scientific  attainments 
and  zeal,  devoted  himself,  on  this  as  on  all  other  oc- 
casions, to  aid  Colonel  Fremont  in  his  preparations. 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1849,  President  Taylor  ap- 
pointed him  commissioner  for  running  the  boundary 
line  between  the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of 
Mexico.  He  never  entered  on  the  duties  of  that  ap- 
pointment. In  the  meanwhile,  under  the  auspices, 
and  with  the  encouragement  of  that  truly  patriotic 
and  enlightened  chief  magistrate,  the  people  of  Cali- 
fornia took  the  usual  steps  to  form  a  constitution. 
Colonel  Fremont  exerted  his  whole  influence  to  se- 

A.  B.,  VOL.  V.—  II  l6l 


l62  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

cure  that  portion  of  the  continent  to  free  labor.  The 
great  point  was  gained.  And  he  was  elected  one  of 
the  first  senators  of  the  State  of  California  in  the 
congress  of  the  United  States. 

The  State  of  California  was  admitted  into  the 
Union  on  the  gth  of  September,  1850.  The  next 
day,  her  senators  elect,  John  C.  Fremont  and  Wil- 
liam M.  Gwin,  after  a  last  desperate  effort  to  prevent 
it,  were  allowed  to  take  their  seats,  the  former  being 
introduced  to  the  senate  by  Mr.  Barnwell  of  South 
Carolina.  Fremont's  name  had  been  made  familiar 
to  the  ears  of  senators,  particularly  at  that  session, 
by  the  extent  to  which  California  occupied  their  dis- 
cussions. In  reference  to  that  country,  as  both  con- 
queror and  explorer,  he  was  the  authority  on  which 
they  all  relied.  In  a  speech  on  the  compromise  bills, 
delivered  in  the  Senate  on  the  25th  of  June,  1850, 
Mr.  Soule,  arguing  a  certain  point  relating  to  Cali- 
fornia, uses  these  words :  "  This  opinion  is  fully  sus- 
tained by  the  highest  authority  which  I  can  summon 
before  the  Senate — that  of  the  learned,  enterprising, 
and  indefatigable  officer,  to  whose  labors  the  United 
States  and  the  world  are  so  much  indebted."  Such 
was  then  the  universal  estimate  throughout  the  coun- 
try of  the  value  of  the  public  services  of  Colonel 
Fremont. 

As  is  the  practice  of  the  Senate,  in  the  case  of 
members  entering  the  body  as  the  first  representa- 
tives of  new  States,  Fremont  and  Gwin  drew  lots 
for  the  classes  to  which  they  were  to  belong.  The 
term  of  one-third  of  the  senators  expires  on  each 
alternate  4th  March.  Colonel  Fremont  drew  the 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  163 

shortest  term,  expiring  with  the  3ist  congress  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1851.  Mr.  Gwin  drew  the  longest 
term,  continuing  to  the  close  of  the  33d  congress  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1855.  As  Fremont  was  unable  to 
attend  the  short  term  of  that  congress,  his  whole  sen- 
atorial service  consisted  of  what  remained  of  the 
long  session,  which  terminated  September  3Oth — • 
that  is,  twenty-one  days. 

In  that  short  time  he  accomplished  an  extraordi- 
nary amount  of  work.  Immediately,  upon  taking 
his  seat,  indeed,  on  that  very  day,  he  submitted  a 
resolution  describing  seventeen  post  routes,  covering 
the  whole  territory  of  California,  and  gave  notice  of 
a  variety  of  bills,  which  provided  for  the  extension 
over  that  State  of  all  the  functions  of  the  Govern- 
ment, in  its  several  departments.  These  bills  were 
designed  to  complete  the  organization  of  the  whole 
system  of  society.  They  legalized  all  its  interests, 
pursuits,  privileges,  and  securities,  and  brought  them 
within  the  sphere  and  under  the  protection  of  judi- 
cial tribunals. 

Colonel  Fremont  confined  himself,  while  in  the 
Senate,  mainly  to  the  discussion  of  matters  relating 
to  California,  and  in  the  crowded  hurry  and  com- 
plication of  business  during  the  last  weeks  of  a  sum- 
mer session,  abstained  from  long  speeches.  In  only 
one  or  two  instances  can  his  remarks,  as  they  are 
reported  in  the  Congressional  Globe,  be  considered 
as  approaching  that  character.  He  was  relied  upon 
to  explain  and  illustrate  the  circumstances  and  wants 
of  his  own  State,  and  he  was  ever  prompt  to  do  it ; 
but  in  all  cases,  in  the  briefest  possible  terms.  His 


1 64  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

style  of  debate  was  compact,  clear,  easy,  and  natural. 
He  was  thoroughly  equipped  with  the  requisite  in- 
formation, and  presented  his  views  sensibly  and 
forcibly.  There  is  a  business  aspect  about  his  re- 
marks that  distinguishes  him  as  a  practical  states- 
man. His  three  weeks'  parliamentary  service  is  very 
interesting,  as  an  example  well  worthy  of  imitation. 

The  great  service  Colonel  Fremont  rendered  to 
his  constituents  and  the  country,  while  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  was  in  securing  to  the  miner 
the  entire  product  of  his  labor,  and  preventing  a  tax 
being  levied  upon  the  precious  metals.  When  his 
bill  to  this  effect  came  up  for  discussion  on  the  24th 
of  September,  a  strenuous  effort  was  made  to  amend 
it  by  substituting  a  provision  that  all  gold  extracted 
from  the  mines  or  placers  of  California,  should  be 
and  remain  the  property  of  the  United  States,  and 
delivered  over  accordingly,  the  miner  to  receive  it 
back  at  a  certain  rate,  which  would  leave  a  percent- 
age in  the  hands  of  Government.  The  Senate,  con- 
vinced by  the  statements  of  the  California  Senator, 
rejected  this  amendment.  As  further  amendments 
continued  to  be  urged,  which  would  have  essentially 
changed  the  policy  of  his  bill,  Colonel  Fremont  at 
last  felt  constrained,  on  the  25th  of  September,  to 
enter,  at  greater  length  than  was  his  custom,  upon 
the  defence  of  his  views.  He  introduced  his  remarks 
as  follows : — 

"  The  very  advanced  period  of  the  session  when 
we  obtained  our  seats,  and  were  able  to  bring  for- 
ward the  California  business,  induced  me  to  take  a 
course  in  relation  to  our  bills  which  I  thought  most 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  165 

agreeable  to  the  Senate  and  best  suited  to  secure  for 
them  a  favorable  consideration.  This  was  not  to  use 
the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  for  making  speeches, 
but  to  confine  myself  to  a  brief  exposition  of  the  na- 
ture and  principles  of  a  bill  when  it  should  be  called 
up,  and  then  to  answer,  as  well  as  I  could,  the  in- 
quiries and  objections  of  senators  either  to  principles 
or  details.  But  I  find  such  a  course  difficult  on  this 
bill,  which  introduces  a  new  subject,  and  one  which, 
from  its  novelty  and  importance,  excites,  and  ought 
to  excite,  much  interest,  and  requires  close  examina- 
tion. The  principles  of  this  bill,  as  I  have  already 
stated  them,  are,  to  exclude  all  idea  of  making  a 
national  revenue  out  of  these  mines,  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  monopolies  by  moneyed  capitalists,  and 
to  give  to  NATURAL  CAPITAL,  that  is  to  say,  to  LABOR 
and  INDUSTRY,  a  fair  chance  to  work,  and  the  secure 
enjoyment  of  what  they  find.  To  carry  out  these 
principles  to  their  just  results,  all  the  details  of  the 
bill  are  carefully  directed." 

The  public  records  show  that  it  is  mainly  by  the 
exertions  of  Fremont  that  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  was  persuaded  to  avoid  the  policy  of  taxing 
the  gold  of  California.  It  is  free  to  all  who  toil  for 
it.  There  is  no  inducement  and  no  room  left  for 
fraud  or  concealment.  Industry  possesses  and  en- 
joys its  full  reward.  Labor  is  protected  from  exac- 
tion, clothed  with  its  proper  dignity,  and  crowned 
with  prosperity.  The  people  feel  the  government 
only  in  its  munificence  and  guardian  care.  Every 
motive  that  can  prompt  to  enterprise,  and  every 
spring  that  can  develop  energy  is  brought  to  bear; 


t66  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

and  we  may  repose  in  a  just  confidence  that  the  min- 
eral treasures  of  the  Pacific  coast  will  contribute, 
with  a  mighty  power,  to  fulfil  the  great  design  of  all 
Fremont's  labors, — in  transferring  to  channels,  to 
be  opened  across  our  continent,  the  commerce  of  the 
world. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Engages  in  the  Cattle  Business  in  California. — Gold  Discov- 
ery.— Visit  to  England  and  France. — Imprisonment  in  Lon- 
don.— Fifth  Expedition. — Pacific  Railroad. — Mariposa  Title 
Finally  Confirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

IN  returning  to  California  by  the  isthmus,  after 
the  close  of  the  session  of  Congress,  in  the  fall  of 
1850,  Fremont  suffered  from  Panama  fever,  which 
left  him  for  a  long  time  quite  paralyzed  by  a  neu- 
ralgic affection  of  the  left  side.  He  was  utterly  un- 
able, from  this  cause,  to  return  to  Washington  to 
serve  out  the  residue  of  his  term.  He  was  a  candi- 
date for  reelection  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
was  supported  by  the  Free  State  party.  Governor 
Charles  Robinson  was  a  member  of  the  California 
legislature,  at  the  time,  and  their  joint  struggles  to 
save  that  State  from  slavery  were,  as  they  both  have 
declared,  the  foundation  of  the  friendship  that  exists 
between  them,  and  have  given  additional  force  to 
the  ardent  sympathy  which  Colonel  Fremont  has  ex- 
pressed, from  the  first,  in  such  decisive  language  and 
on  all  occasions,  in  the  devotion  of  Robinson,  and  his 
heroic  fellow-sufferers,  to  the  same  sacred  cause  in 
Kansas.  There  were  more  than  140  ballots.  Every 
native  Calif ornian  voted  for  him  from  the  beginning 

167 


1 68  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

to  the  end.  There  was  no  election;  and  the  whole 
subject  was  postponed  to  the  next  legislature. 

When  his  health  was  sufficiently  restored,  he  went 
into  the  cattle-raising  business;  after  which  he  paid 
a  brief  visit  to  Europe. 

In  England,  as  afterwards  on  the  continent,  he 
received  attentions  which  showed  the  extent  to  which 
his  geographical  discoveries  and  scientific  reports 
had  given  him  a  European  reputation.  His  brilliant 
and  chivalrous  proceedings  in  California  had,  no 
doubt,  also  attracted  much  observation.  Learned 
and  scientific  societies  invited  him  to  attend  their 
meetings.  Many  distinguished  persons,  of  eminent 
attainments  and  high  position,  sought  his  acquaint- 
ance. 

Not  long  after  this,  Colonel  Fremont  went  to 
Paris,  where  he  took  a  house,  in  which  he  continued 
about  a  year.  In  June,  1853,  he  returned  to  his  own 
country. 

In  August,  1853,  ne  started  upon  his  fifth  and  last 
expedition,  being  determined  to  solve  the  problem 
of  the  practicability  of  a  trans-continental  communi- 
cation, by  common  road,  and  by  railroad.  This  ex- 
pedition was  at  the  joint  expense  of  Colonel  Fremont 
and  Colonel  Benton. 

The  particular  point  to  which  attention  was  to  be 
directed,  was,  to  ascertain  the  winter  condition  of 
the  country,  in  reference  to  the  practicability  of  a 
railroad,  to  determine  how  far  snow  would  be  an 
obstruction,  and  whether  the  circumstances  incident 
to  that  season  could  be  encountered  and  surmounted. 

So  great  a  length  of  time  elapsed  before  hearing 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  169 

from  him,  that  the  most  serious  apprehensions  began 
to  prevail ;  and  as  weeks  and  months  wore  away  and 
no  intelligence  came  from  any  quarter,  a  painful  con- 
viction deepened  in  the  public  mind  that  he  had  met, 
at  last,  the  fate  he  had  so  often  braved.  It  was  not 
until  the  early  part  of  April,  1854,  that  his  safety 
was  ascertained.  Colonel  Babbitt,  the  Secretary  of 
Utah  Territory,  was  on  his  way  to  Washington,  with 
the  United  States  mail.  He  had  left  the  Great  Salt 
Lake  on  the  4th  of  February,  and  was  going  by  what 
is  called  the  coast  route,  that  is,  taking  passage  on 
the  Pacific  side,  and  crossing  by  Panama.  On  the 
8th  of  February,  an  Indian  came  to  his  camp  and 
told  him  that,  the  day  before,  he  had  met  a  company 
of  Americans,  and  "  that  they  were  hungry."  That 
night  Babbitt  overtook  Fremont  at  a  small  Mormon 
settlement.  He  sent  a  man  to  his  camp  to  commun- 
icate with  him,  but  Fremont  excused  himself  from 
talking  as  he  was  too  much  worn  out ;  but  the  next 
morning  early,  he  called  upon  Babbitt  and  informed 
him  of  the  route  and  condition  of  his  party.  Colonel 
Babbitt  published  an  account  of  the  meeting  in  the 
California  papers,  and  they  brought  the  first  intelli- 
gence received  from  the  expedition.  About  the  same 
time  the  Philadelphia  Bulletin  contained  an  extract 
from  a  letter  of  Mr.  S.  N.  Carvallo,  Colonel  Fre- 
mont's daguerreotypist,  dated  February  8,  and 
brought  in,  undoubtedly,  by  Colonel  Babbitt,  in 
which  he  says  that  the  party  had  "  lived  fifty  days 
on  horse-flesh,  and  for  the  last  forty-eight  hours  had 
been  without  food  of  any  kind." 

The  St.  Louis  Democrat  of  April  8,  1854,  speak- 


AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

ing  of  this  last  expedition,  after  mentioning  that  it 
was  undertaken,  as  well  as  the  previous  one,  at  his 
own  expense,  says  that  when  he  set  out  upon  it, 
"  his  health  was  in  a  precarious  condition,  and  he 
was  even  compelled  to  take  with  him  a  physician, 
who  accompanied  him  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  His 
private  business  in  California  called  loudly  for  his 
presence  there,  having  suffered  by  his  absence  in 
Europe,  protracted  by  imprisonment  for  debts  in- 
curred in  the  conquest  of  California,  and  which  was 
adding  millions  every  year  to  the  wealth  of  our  peo- 
ple, whilst  our  government  neglected  and  refused  to 
pay  the  debt  incurred  by  Fremont  in  its  acquisition. 
It  was  under  such  difficulties  and  embarrassments,  in 
the  face  of  so  much  personal  sacrifice  and  danger, 
that  this  expedition  was  undertaken  by  the  heroic 
and  intrepid  adventurer." 

On  Colonel  Fremont's  return  to  the  Atlantic 
States,  the  St.  Louis  Intelligencer  welcomed  him  in 
the  following  language : — 

"  The  maxim  that  fortune  favors  the  brave,  has 
been  signally  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  winter 
which  Colonel  Fremont  chose  for  exploring  a  howl- 
ing wilderness  of  thousands  of  miles,  where  he  was 
cut  off  for  weeks  from  the  succor  and  sympathy  of 
civilized  man,  except  his  own  party,  has  been  the 
hardest  winter  ever  known  in  those  regions.  To 
carry  his  men  safely  through  the  fearful  hardships 
and  perils  of  this  unexampled  winter,  is  itself  a  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  which  he  went  to  determine,  be- 
sides showing  fortitude,  mental  resources,  and  un- 
conquerable energy  of  will,  which  stamp  the  hardy 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  171 

explorer  as  one  of  the  great  men  of  action  who  make 
their  mark  upon  their  country  and  their  age.  It  is 
the  fit  crowning  achievement  of  a  series  of  adven- 
turous explorations,  not  surpassed,  if  equalled,  in  re- 
spect to  the  qualities  displayed  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  results,  by  any  similar  career  in  the  history  of 
mankind.  The  career  of  Fremont  has  been  charac- 
teristically western  and  American,  at  a  time  when 
the  great  work  of  western  America  is  to  subdue  the 
wilderness.  He  is  a  mightier  Daniel  Boone,  on  a 
far  more  magnificent  theatre,  and  adds  to  the  sturdy 
qualities  of  the  pioneer  of  civilization,  those  graces 
and  attainments  of  science  and  literature,  which  only 
the  highest  civilization  can  confer." 

In  the  National  Intelligencer,  of  June  13,  1854, 
Colonel  Fremont  published  a  letter  condensing  the 
general  results  of  his  last  exploration,  which  the 
House  of  Representatives  ordered  to  be  reprinted 
among  its  miscellaneous  documents.  When  his  full 
report  is  published,  it  will  contain  a  rigid  and  thor- 
ough discussion  of  all  the  obstacles  and  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  the  construction  of  a  railroad  connecting 
the  Atlantic  States,  centrally,  with  the  Pacific  coast. 
It  is  well  known  that  he  is  fully  convinced  that  it  can 
be  done.  When  the  people  say  that  it  shall  be  done, 
it  will  be  done.  The  resources  of  this  great  country 
are  adequate  to  the  work.  Its  commerce,  its  union, 
and  its  power,  require  it.  All  that  is  needed  is  a 
government  pledged  to  accomplish  it,  and  honest, 
firm,  and  energetic  enough  to  redeem  its  pledge. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

General  Remarks. 

THE  career  of  Colonel  Fremont  must  be  consid- 
ered as  one  of  the  most  active,  and  crowded  with 
service,  of  any  in  the  whole  circle  of  biography. 
Considering  that  we  live  in  what  is  called  a  utilita- 
rian age,  and  that  his  line  of  occupation  has  itself 
been  eminently  practical,  it  is  remarkable  how  much 
that  is  romantic  and  almost  marvellous  is  spread  over 
it.  Poetry  has  seldom  indulged  in  visions  stranger 
or  more  exciting  than  has  been  his  reality.  Chivalry 
has  seldom  had  finer  models  than  his  camp  presented. 
The  artist  finds  as  many  scenes  of  varied  and  most 
attractive  interest,  in  the  events  and  circumstances 
delineated  on  the  foregoing  pages,  as  in  the  experi- 
ence of  any  feudal  or  heroic  period  of  the  world. 
The  days  of  high  adventure  are  not  over ;  life,  in  our 
times,  and  in  our  country,  opens  still  a  field  for  true 
heroism ;  and,  in  every  calling,  presents  emergencies 
that  will  try  and  display  the  power  and  glory  of 
courage,  truth,  benevolence,  and  fidelity. 

[The  death  of  the  noted  American  explorer  oc- 
curred in  New  York  City  on  July  13,  1890,  in  his 
seventy-eighth  year.  After  his  career  as  "  Path- 
finder "  and  early  opener  of  the  route  over  the 

172 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT  173 

Rockies  to  the  Pacific,  Fremont  took  part  (1846-47) 
in  the  conquest  of  California  and  in  1850-51  acted 
as  United  States  senator  for  that  State.  In  1856, 
he  was  the  unsuccessful  Republican  candidate  for  the 
United  States  Presidency,  and  during  the  Civil  War 
was  successively  Federal  commander  of  the  Western 
Department  and  United  States  commander  at  Cross 
Keys.  From  1878  to  1882,  he  was  governor  of 
Arizona. — EDITOR.  ] 

The  Eclectic  Review,  in  an  article  on  an  English 
reprint  of  the  Reports  of  his  first  two  Expeditions 
across  the  Continent,  expresses  itself  in  the  following 
emphatic  and  discriminating  language : — 

"  The  expedition  required  much  physical  strength, 
great  courage,  and  no  common  skill  in  meeting  the 
contingencies  which  daily  arose.  These  were  pre- 
eminently possessed  by  Captain  Fremont,  in  happy 
combination  with  the  knowledge  which  enabled  him 
to  bring  from  the  comparatively  unknown  region  he 
visited,  important  contributions  to  the  sciences  of 
astronomy,  geography,  botany,  and  geology/' 

The  opinions  of  the  scientific  men  of  his  own  coun- 
try were  expressed  by  Professor  Silliman  in  a  review 
of  his  Reports,  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science 
and  Art,  second  series.  Vol.  HI.  March,  1847. 

"  Few  travellers  have  encountered  greater  hard- 
ships, and  none  have  exhibited  more  indomitable 
courage  or  untiring  zeal."  "  Captain  Fremont '-s 
journal  is  written  in  a  graphic  style,  bearing  evidence 
of  literal  accuracy  in  all  its  statements,  and  yet,  in 
many  parts,  reading  like  a  romance.  With  deep  in- 
terest we  follow  the  adventurous  traveller,  threading 


174  AMERICAN   BIOGRAPHY 

his  pathless  way  over  lofty  ridges,  through  dense 
forests,  and  up  the  icy  heights."  Speaking  of  the 
fact  that  a  particular  flower  had  been  called  "  Fre- 
montia,"  he  says :  "  It  is  right  that  this  bold  ex- 
plorer of  the  mountains  should  have  his  name  in- 
scribed among  the  flowers  of  the  region,  and  about 
its  loftiest  heights,  as  well  as  upon  the  honored  page 
of  history." 

Fremont  has  ever  been  engrossed  with  great  views 
and  projects.  He  has  led  the  way,  in  our  day,  in 
opening  to  view  the  vast  hidden  regions  between  the 
great  mountain  ranges  of  the  Continent.  He  first 
unfurled  our  flag  on  the  summits  of  them  both.  To 
his  boldness  and  prompt  decision  we  are  indebted 
for  the  integrity  of  our  Pacific  empire;  and,  if  the 
great  desire  of  his  heart  and  object  of  his  life  is  to  be 
accomplished,  we  shall  have  a  PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 

His  letter  to  the  National  Intelligencer  of  June  13, 
1854,  closes  with  these  words: — 

"  It  seems  a  treason  against  mankind  and  the 
spirit  of  progress  which  marks  the  age,  to  refuse  to 
put  this  one  completing  link  to  our  national  pros- 
perity and  the  civilization  of  the  world.  Europe  still 
lies  between  Asia  and  America;  build  this  railroad, 
and  things  will  have  revolved  about;  America  will 
lie  between  Asia  and  Europe, — the  golden  vein  which 
runs  through  the  history  of  the  world,  will  follow  the 
iron  track  to  San  Francisco,  and  the  Asiatic  trade 
will  finally  fall  into  its  last  and  permanent  road, 
when  the  ancient  and  the  modern  Chryse  throw 
open  their  gates  to  the  thoroughfare  of  the  world." 

No  man  can  claim  the  glory  of  a  true  American 


JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT 

by  a  better  title.  He  has  made  the  knowledge  and 
the  development  of  the  resources  of  this  continent 
the  great  end  of  all  his  exertions,  and  has  pursued 
it  with  a  self -sacrificing  devotion.  His  name  is 
stamped  with  an  imprint  that  can  never  be  obliter- 
ated, over  the  whole  breadth  of  its  geography. 

Exploring  the  North  American  Continent,  of 
which  he  has  seen  more  than  any  other  man,  with 
this  object  in  view,  he  has  naturally  become  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  free  labor.  It  has  always  been  ob- 
vious to  him,  as  one  would  suppose  it  could  not  fail 
to  be  to  every  intelligent  person,  that  the  realization 
of  the  commercial,  industrial,  social,  and  moral 
greatness,  of  which  America  is  capable,  depends 
vitally  and  wholly  upon  maintaining  the  DIGNITY 
and  the  RIGHTS  of  LABOR.  He  contended  earnestly 
to  make  California  a  free  State,  and  his  sympathies 
are  with  the  struggles  of  freemen  everywhere  against 
the  extension  of  slavery,  as  his  letter  to  Governor 
Robinson  of  Kansas  shows. 

The  example  of  Colonel  Fremont  has  been  de- 
lineated in  his  work,  and  is  exhibited  to  his  country- 
men not  for  any  temporary  purpose,  but  because  it 
ought,  from  its  essential  worth  and  importance,  to  be 
placed  where  all  can  contemplate  it.  His  personal 
history  is,  in  many  essential  particulars,  especially  in 
reference  to  California  affairs,  the  history  of  the 
country.  But  the  example  is  held  up,  mainly,  on  ac- 
count of  its  moral  value  to  the  rising  generations  of 
America.  The  course  of  John  Charles  Fremont  is 
a  pattern,  and  his  success  an  encouragement  to  every 
noble  mind,  which,  despising  sloth  and  ease,  folly 


176  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY 

and  pleasure,  aspires  to  an  honorable  usefulness  to 
be  achieved  by  meritorious  exertions. 

The  self-made  man,  sustaining  himself  in  the  pur- 
suit of  knowledge,  by  incessant  labors  as  an  humble 
teacher  of  private  classes — the  young  pioneer,  pene- 
trating interior  forests,  climbing  snow-clad  moun- 
tains, enduring  every  privation,  and  braving  every 
danger — the  patriot  soldier,  ever  ready  to  die  be- 
neath the  flag  of  his  country — the  humane  con- 
queror, by  clemency  making  his  victories  complete — 
the  gallant  commander,  just  and  kind  to  his  men — 
the  enlightened  legislator,  watching  over  the  inter- 
ests and  rights  of  LABOR  and  INDUSTRY — the  scien- 
tific scholar,  commanding  the  respect  of  the  learned 
men  of  his  country  and  the  world — and  the  far- 
reaching  statesman,  embracing  the  continent  in  his 
policy,  and  giving  his  life,  in  an  unparalleled  service 
of  toil,  suffering,  and  peril,  to  open  a  channel  through 
which  the  wealth  of  the  other  continents  may  flow 
over  its  surface,  are  all  before  the  eyes  of  the  YOUNG 
MEN  OF  AMERICA,  in  the  character  portrayed  on 
these  pages.  May  the  spectacle  give  ardor  to  every 
manly  virtue,  and  inspire  all  hearts  with  industry 
and  resolution  in  self-improvement,  with  fidelity  and 
courage  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and  with  an  ex- 
alted and  comprehensive  patriotism. 


